PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on PayPal from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.03.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $81.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $85.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $75.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.16. PayPal has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $82.80.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in PayPal by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $501,184,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 28.1% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in PayPal by 180.7% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $287,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184,160 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in PayPal by 14.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $183,789,000 after purchasing an additional 409,322 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 3,046,502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $176,789,000 after purchasing an additional 146,643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Company Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. It operates a two-sided network at scale that connects merchants and consumers that enables its customers to connect, transact, and send and receive payments through online and in person, as well as transfer and withdraw funds using various funding sources, such as bank accounts, PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products comprising its installment products, credit and debit cards, and cryptocurrencies, as well as other stored value products, including gift cards and eligible rewards.