Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Increases Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 5,899.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,575 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 70,382 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $6,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,736,394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,849,884,000 after purchasing an additional 271,836 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in PayPal by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,615,134,000 after buying an additional 2,161,582 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 valued at $1,529,823,000 after buying an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,086,508,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of PayPal by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,462,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $892,953,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669,908 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PYPL opened at $65.84 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $66.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.30. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.85 and a 12-month high of $93.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.84 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PYPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on PayPal from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of PayPal from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.72.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About PayPal

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.