Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 105,643 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 33.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 209,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 105,643 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $17,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 113.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $59,489,000 after buying an additional 18,172 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its position in PayPal by 223.1% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 265,048 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,622,000 after buying an additional 183,011 shares during the last quarter. StoneX Group Inc. lifted its stake in PayPal by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 27,249 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after acquiring an additional 11,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

PayPal Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of PYPL opened at $65.34 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. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.76 and its 200-day moving average is $78.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PYPL. Arete Research set a $81.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. DZ Bank raised shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on PayPal from $110.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on PayPal from $103.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.88.

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.