PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, 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. Fourteen 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.55.

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL opened at $72.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.96. PayPal has a twelve month low of $56.97 and a twelve month high of $93.66.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 113.8% in the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 3,976 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth about $387,435,000. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth about $810,000. Equity Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $155,927,000 after purchasing an additional 67,497 shares during the period. Finally, Weil Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 41,689 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 17,003 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.