Natixis Boosts Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Natixis raised its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 95.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,073 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,227 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in PayPal were worth $8,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 77.5% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. American National Bank purchased a new position in PayPal during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the first quarter worth about $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total transaction of $272,616.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $861,620.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PYPL. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.63.

PayPal Stock Down 1.5 %

PayPal stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Thursday, reaching $57.22. The stock had a trading volume of 12,449,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,377,655. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.25 and a 52-week high of $76.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $59.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.42.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.52 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. On average, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.15 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.