Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Stock Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 229.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,295 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 143,046 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in PayPal were worth $13,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $806,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,267,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 604.7% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 53,076 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,452,000 after acquiring an additional 45,544 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 847,006 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $53,344,000 after acquiring an additional 73,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,737,878 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $106,723,000 after acquiring an additional 37,692 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other PayPal news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $272,616.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,976 shares in the company, valued at $861,620.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $61.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.24. The company has a market cap of $63.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.42. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $70.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The firm had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PYPL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, May 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of PayPal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $71.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.94.

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.