PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PYPL. Arete Research set a $81.00 price objective on PayPal in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on shares of PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.88.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $64.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. PayPal has a 1 year low of $55.85 and a 1 year high of $93.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.72. The firm has a market cap of $64.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 81.6% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 445 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. QSM Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 21.1% in the first quarter. QSM Asset Management Ltd now owns 120,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,750,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 31.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 474,628 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,969,000 after buying an additional 114,343 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 7.2% in the first quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 58,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,806,000 after buying an additional 3,943 shares during the period. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.5% during the first quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 15,259 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.