The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $79.00 to $87.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on PayPal from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.03.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $78.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.44. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.48. PayPal has a 52 week low of $50.80 and a 52 week high of $83.70.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that PayPal will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in 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 valued at $501,184,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 28.1% in the second 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 during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in PayPal by 180.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in PayPal by 14.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 409,322 shares in 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 worth $176,789,000 after purchasing an additional 146,643 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.