Schroder Investment Management Group Raises Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 612,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,381 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.06% of PayPal worth $52,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,086,508,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $666,100,000 after acquiring an additional 5,772,198 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 174.1% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at $135,537,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PYPL shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Arete Research cut PayPal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of PayPal from $104.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.40.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $65.25 on Tuesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.86. The company has a market capitalization of $64.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. Equities analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS 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.