Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 2,773,522 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board cut its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 55.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,267,564 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,773,522 shares during the quarter. PayPal makes up about 2.3% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in PayPal were worth $193,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,086,508,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of PayPal by 284.0% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 174.1% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,615,134,000 after buying an additional 2,161,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $135,537,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $62.27 on Tuesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.85 and a twelve month high of $93.66. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.00.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.