PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Down 1.4% After Analyst Downgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares dropped 1.4% during trading on Monday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on the stock from $104.00 to $85.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. PayPal traded as low as $63.40 and last traded at $64.25. Approximately 2,956,026 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 11,193,841 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.15.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on PYPL. DZ Bank upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Macquarie boosted their target price 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. Wolfe Research upgraded PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Arete Research lowered PayPal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PayPal has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC increased its position in 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 last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the third quarter valued at approximately $387,435,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 697,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $59,489,000 after purchasing an additional 18,172 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 120.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $125,461,000 after purchasing an additional 849,311 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Trading Down 1.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $63.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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, 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.