Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Increases Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,855 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,267,000. Bartlett & Co. LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & Co. LLC now owns 9,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of PayPal by 9.5% in the 4th 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. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 20,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellecapital International Ltd. lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 21,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL opened at $63.26 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $77.94.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PYPL. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on PayPal from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $66.00 target price (down previously from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal 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.