Arete Research Downgrades PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) to Hold

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Arete Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

PYPL has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, 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. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.03.

PayPal Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $65.15 on Thursday. PayPal has a 52-week low of $56.97 and a 52-week high of $93.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.73. The company has a market capitalization of $64.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. 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 (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,086,508,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in PayPal by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in PayPal by 284.0% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth about $387,435,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 174.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.