Short Interest in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Expands By 32.5%

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 32,930,000 shares, an increase of 32.5% from the January 31st total of 24,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new stake in PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in PayPal by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 344.3% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded 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 note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Bank of America raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.03.

PayPal Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded down $2.27 on Tuesday, hitting $67.48. 19,975,314 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,101,239. PayPal has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.17. The company has a market cap of $66.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44.

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

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.