Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Stock Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in PayPal were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in PayPal by 4.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,069,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,173,254,000 after acquiring an additional 873,181 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in PayPal by 0.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,767,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $687,902,000 after acquiring an additional 78,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 29.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,916,982 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575,930 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in PayPal by 4.6% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,906,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $286,835,000 after acquiring an additional 215,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP lifted its position in PayPal by 9.3% during the third quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 4,174,520 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $244,042,000 after acquiring an additional 355,411 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. DZ Bank cut shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 price target (down previously from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.47.

PayPal Stock Up 2.9 %

PYPL stock opened at $65.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $62.87 and its 200 day moving average is $60.18. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $50.25 and a one year high of $76.54.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 20.84%. The company had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 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.