PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,918,589 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,439 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.17% of PayPal worth $117,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PYPL. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $806,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,267,000. Bartlett & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & Co. LLC now owns 9,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 847,006 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $53,344,000 after purchasing an additional 73,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 20,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Trading Down 3.2 %

PYPL stock traded down $2.11 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.81. 11,175,602 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,367,253. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.72. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.25 and a 52-week high of $76.54.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 21.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on PayPal from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down previously from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Twenty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.