Hills Bank & Trust Co Grows Stock Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,921 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 113.8% in the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 3,976 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth about $387,435,000. Equity Investment Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 67,497 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in PayPal by 120.3% in the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.03.

PayPal Trading Up 3.0 %

PYPL opened at $68.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.97 and a 1-year high of $93.66.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.