National Pension Service Acquires 378,488 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,462,886 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 378,488 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.25% of PayPal worth $210,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 12,919.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $819,315,000 after acquiring an additional 10,419,351 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in PayPal by 174.1% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 2,689,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in PayPal by 21.6% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,015,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $469,414,000 after buying an additional 1,069,356 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $74.07 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.02. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.97 and a twelve month high of $93.66. The company has a market cap of $73.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last 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. On average, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PYPL. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Susquehanna raised their target price on PayPal from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Fourteen 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.52.

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.