PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Up 0.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares shot up 0.2% during trading on Friday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $68.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has a market perform rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $62.46 and last traded at $62.21. 4,046,280 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 16,452,525 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.10.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on PYPL. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on PayPal from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on PayPal from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. DZ Bank lowered PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total transaction of $466,079.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 4,514.3% during the 1st quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 323 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 146.5% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, American National Bank acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About PayPal

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.