StockNews.com Upgrades PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PYPL. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on PayPal from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday. DZ Bank upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.77.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $65.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. PayPal has a 1-year low of $55.85 and a 1-year high of $93.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.20.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.79 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,296,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in PayPal by 196.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,221 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 6,772 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in PayPal by 33.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 64,693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,048,000 after purchasing an additional 16,306 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 120.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $125,461,000 after purchasing an additional 849,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,586,000. 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.