Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Hold Rating for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on PYPL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Phillip Securities restated an “accumulate” rating and set a $90.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.97.

PayPal Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $70.73 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.89. PayPal has a 52-week low of $56.97 and a 52-week high of $93.66. The firm has a market cap of $69.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. LM Advisors LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. LM Advisors LLC now owns 14,705 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 3,160 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $397,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 76.1% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 123.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 11,851 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.