Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 3,418 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 9.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,815 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,418 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in PayPal by 77.5% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO lifted its holdings in PayPal by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,175 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in PayPal by 65.8% in the 1st quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 15,551 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PYPL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stephens boosted their price target 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. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. New Street Research started coverage on PayPal in a research report on Friday, May 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on PayPal from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.56.

PayPal Trading Down 0.6 %

PYPL stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,449,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,486,866. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.42. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.25 and a 1 year high of $72.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.48.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current 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.