PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 1.8% – Still a Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price was up 1.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $78.33 and last traded at $77.97. Approximately 10,494,275 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 11,926,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PYPL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on PayPal from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.52.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $77.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.36.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $8.37 billion for 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 revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 17.5% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 8,285 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 4.6% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,252,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the third quarter worth about $367,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in PayPal by 126.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 4,249 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth about $265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.