PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Downgraded by Arete Research to Hold

Arete Research lowered shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PYPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research raised shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.03.

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock opened at $65.15 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.73. PayPal has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. PayPal’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business’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 approximately $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,886 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings 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. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 11,515 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 2,067 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.