Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price objective reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $104.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 30.47% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Sixteen investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.40.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $65.15 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.28 and its 200-day moving average is $80.90. The firm has a market cap of $64.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. PayPal has a 12-month low of $56.97 and a 12-month 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.

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

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,736,394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,849,884,000 after buying an additional 271,836 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,582 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in PayPal by 108.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $1,086,508,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in PayPal by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,462,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $892,953,000 after buying an additional 1,669,908 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.