Platinum Investment Management Ltd. Increases Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 4,466.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,686 shares during the period. Platinum Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $5,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 113.8% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 3,976 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter valued at $387,435,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 697,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $59,489,000 after acquiring an additional 18,172 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,842,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in PayPal by 120.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $125,461,000 after buying an additional 849,311 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $68.88 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $68.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.97 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $79.18 and its 200 day moving average is $80.97.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.03.

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.