Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Cuts Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 11.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,863 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PYPL. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,108,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,633 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Donald L. Hagan LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 25,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,653 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 129,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,434,000 after acquiring an additional 14,632 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Down 5.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $70.83 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.85 and a 1 year high of $93.66. The firm has a market cap of $68.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.45. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.82.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.17. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 3,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total value of $277,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,020,248. The trade was a 21.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,839 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.24, for a total value of $281,168.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,244,274.36. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,796 shares of company stock valued at $863,028 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on PayPal from $104.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Truist Financial assumed coverage on PayPal in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price objective on PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on PayPal from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.29.

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.