Red Spruce Capital LLC Reduces Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Red Spruce Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,845 shares during the period. PayPal comprises approximately 2.5% of Red Spruce Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Red Spruce Capital LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $5,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $1,086,508,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of PayPal by 108.2% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 284.0% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in PayPal by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,462,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $892,953,000 after buying an additional 1,669,908 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of PYPL opened at $70.93 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $93.66. The firm has a market cap of $68.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PYPL shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.68.

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.