iA Global Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 55.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 172,527 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,736 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $14,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 113.8% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 3,976 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at $387,435,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 697,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $59,489,000 after purchasing an additional 18,172 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 120.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $125,461,000 after purchasing an additional 849,311 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.03.

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL opened at $70.00 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.89. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.97 and a 1 year high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.