John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Boosts Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 39,285 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,400 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 115.0% in the third quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the second quarter worth $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the third quarter valued at $33,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,318,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,526,145. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.25 and a fifty-two week high of $76.54.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total transaction of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. DZ Bank lowered PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Mizuho decreased their target price on PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on PayPal from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.47.

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.