LGT Capital Partners LTD. Acquires 38,950 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. increased its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 942,140 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,950 shares during the quarter. PayPal accounts for 1.7% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD. owned about 0.09% of PayPal worth $57,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 12.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,246,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $144,215,000 after purchasing an additional 138,875 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in PayPal by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,894 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,860 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 136.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in PayPal by 5.3% in the first quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 3,095 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $66.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.41. The firm has a market cap of $71.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $77.95.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. PayPal’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PYPL shares. Argus downgraded PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on PayPal from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $66.00 target price (down from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on PayPal from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.47.

PayPal 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.