Columbia Asset Management Trims Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Columbia Asset Management lessened its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 9.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,280 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 570 shares during the quarter. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in PayPal were worth $345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $1,086,508,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,529,823,000 after acquiring an additional 9,313,783 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 284.0% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $666,100,000 after acquiring an additional 5,772,198 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,615,134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161,582 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 19.0% in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $72.80 on Thursday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.85 and a 12-month high of $93.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.41. The company has a market capitalization of $70.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PYPL shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on PayPal from $103.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Arete Research set a $81.00 price target on PayPal in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on PayPal from $110.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.29.

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.