Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Cuts Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trimmed its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 46.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 882,313 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 778,037 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in PayPal were worth $59,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 77.5% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on PayPal from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on PayPal from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on PayPal from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $272,616.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,976 shares in the company, valued at $861,620.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PayPal Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $58.29 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.25 and a 12-month high of $76.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $60.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.42.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.14). PayPal had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal 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.