PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stake Increased by Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. increased its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 240,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,800 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $20,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PYPL. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after buying an additional 7,767,072 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 174.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after buying an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $135,537,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in PayPal by 21.6% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,015,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $469,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,356 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $69.67 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $78.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.81. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The stock has a market cap of $68.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52.

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

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 dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on PYPL shares. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.03.

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.