Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Grows Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,429 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,953 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its position in PayPal by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,207 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,151,000 after purchasing an additional 7,196 shares in the last quarter. Balentine LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $247,000. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $387,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,147 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 16,315 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,392,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on PYPL. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.52.

PayPal Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $76.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $86.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.03. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.97 and a 52-week high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS 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.