Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 2,500 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in PayPal by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 344.3% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of PayPal by 186.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 125.3% during the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 437 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $91.81 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.72. The stock has a market cap of $92.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.77 and a 12 month high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PYPL. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on PayPal from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.32.

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.