Tredje AP fonden Makes New Investment in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Tredje AP fonden bought a new stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 146,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,487,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 113.8% during the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after acquiring an additional 3,976 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter worth about $387,435,000. Equity Investment Corp increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 3.5% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $155,927,000 after buying an additional 67,497 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,842,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 120.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $125,461,000 after buying an additional 849,311 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $66.91 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.97 and a 52-week high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $66.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.33 and a 200-day moving average of $80.90.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PYPL. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the 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 owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal 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.