PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 1% – Time to Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares shot up 1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $68.48 and last traded at $68.17. 3,115,353 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 11,983,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PYPL. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Macquarie raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.03.

PayPal Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $68.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.17.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 20.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in PayPal by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in PayPal by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 189,842 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,813,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in PayPal by 11.2% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 5,699 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 5.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,084,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $162,646,000 after buying an additional 110,691 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.