Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215,459 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,181 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $18,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in PayPal by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its position in PayPal by 344.3% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in PayPal by 186.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $71.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.30 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.05. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.97 and a 12-month high of $93.66.

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. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Macquarie upped their price objective on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.03.

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.