PayPal Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 124,402 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 35% compared to the average volume of 92,203 call options.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PayPal by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,736,394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,849,884,000 after purchasing an additional 271,836 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,582 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in PayPal by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after buying an additional 9,313,783 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,086,508,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,462,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $892,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669,908 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PYPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Arete Research set a $81.00 target price on PayPal in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on PayPal from $104.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.32.

PayPal Trading Down 5.3 %

PYPL opened at $60.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $59.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.19 and a 200-day moving average of $79.87. PayPal has a twelve month low of $55.85 and a twelve month high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

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.