PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Sold by Essex LLC

Essex LLC trimmed its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,309 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,109 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in PayPal by 12,919.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $819,315,000 after buying an additional 10,419,351 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 86.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the third quarter valued at about $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in PayPal by 174.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 9,864.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,119,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $87,336,000 after buying an additional 1,108,030 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $77.31 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.77 and a 1 year high of $93.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.43.

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.