PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Robert W. Baird Analyst Says

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its target price raised by Robert W. Baird from $80.00 to $91.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

PYPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on PayPal from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on PayPal from $70.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. William Blair upgraded PayPal to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.03.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $78.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. PayPal has a 1-year low of $50.80 and a 1-year high of $83.70. The stock has a market cap of $81.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.12. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

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

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.