PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-four research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.52.

PYPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 76.1% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its stake in PayPal by 123.2% in the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 11,851 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 6,542 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in PayPal by 154.6% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 14,512 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 8,813 shares in the last quarter. Amiral Gestion purchased a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,047,000. Finally, Auxier Asset Management purchased a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $75.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $74.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $84.86 and its 200-day moving average is $80.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. PayPal has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion for 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%. PayPal’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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.