PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Arete Research

Arete Research cut shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

PYPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research raised 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. DZ Bank raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.03.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $65.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. PayPal has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $76.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.73.

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 analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in PayPal by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.