JMP Securities Raises PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Price Target to $70.00

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price objective upped by JMP Securities from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Argus downgraded shares of PayPal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered PayPal from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a neutral rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $70.47.

PayPal Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $62.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. PayPal has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $76.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.93.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 20.84%. The company had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total transaction of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in PayPal by 12.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,246,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $144,215,000 after buying an additional 138,875 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its position in shares of PayPal by 8.6% in the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,894 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of PayPal by 15.4% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,860 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in PayPal by 136.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 5.3% during the first quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 3,095 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by 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.