PayPal Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 107,187 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 11% compared to the typical volume of 96,911 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $501,184,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in PayPal by 180.7% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $287,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184,160 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 14.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $183,789,000 after buying an additional 409,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of PayPal by 5.1% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 3,046,502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $176,789,000 after buying an additional 146,643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded down $3.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $80.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,898,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,586,770. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.94 and a 200 day moving average of $67.30. PayPal has a twelve month low of $50.58 and a twelve month high of $83.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on PYPL shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on PayPal in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. William Blair upgraded shares of PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com cut PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Stephens upped their price target on PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of PayPal from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.77.

PayPal Company 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.