Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 816 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,596 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth about $749,561,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 125.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,724,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $105,882,000 after purchasing an additional 958,130 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,644,317 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $445,103,000 after buying an additional 904,804 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in PayPal by 4,024.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 783,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $48,099,000 after buying an additional 764,258 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 1,309.2% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 800,648 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,168,000 after acquiring an additional 743,833 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Down 1.7 %

PYPL stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.91. 4,067,636 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,270,326. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.25 and a fifty-two week high of $73.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.92. The stock has a market cap of $75.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.42.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PYPL. Daiwa America upgraded PayPal from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group lifted their price target on PayPal from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on PayPal from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Macquarie upped their price target on PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.56.

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.