PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 0.7% – Here’s Why

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares fell 0.7% on Friday . The company traded as low as $77.57 and last traded at $78.03. 3,387,237 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 10,989,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on PayPal from $90.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their price target on PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on PayPal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.29.

PayPal Stock Down 1.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $87.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.38. The company has a market capitalization of $76.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 113.8% during the fourth 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 period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the third quarter worth $387,435,000. United Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in PayPal in the third quarter valued at $810,000. FCG Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter valued at $1,079,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $155,927,000 after acquiring an additional 67,497 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.