PayPal’s (PYPL) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their hold rating on shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PYPL. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Fourteen investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.55.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $72.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $71.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.96.

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

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,086,508,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $819,315,000 after purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in PayPal by 284.0% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $666,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,772,198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.