South Dakota Investment Council Decreases Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 397,869 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 12,200 shares during the quarter. PayPal accounts for approximately 0.5% of South Dakota Investment Council’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in PayPal were worth $24,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 115.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PYPL. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on PayPal from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. DZ Bank lowered PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, February 9th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.47.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ PYPL traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $64.43. 9,897,597 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,395,941. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $62.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.45. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.25 and a 52 week high of $76.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

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.