Principal Securities Inc. Has $1.92 Million Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,858 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,619 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 65,391 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,581,000 after acquiring an additional 3,179 shares during the period. Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at $2,171,000. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth about $1,340,000. Finally, Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 9,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on PayPal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.52.

PayPal Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $78.62 on Wednesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.97 and a 1 year high of $93.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.45. The stock has a market cap of $77.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal 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.