PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Earns “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

PYPL has been the topic of several other research reports. Argus cut PayPal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. DZ Bank cut PayPal from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on PayPal from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Twenty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $72.73.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $65.70. The stock had a trading volume of 15,421,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,569,914. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.56 and its 200 day moving average is $60.44. PayPal has a twelve month low of $50.25 and a twelve month high of $76.54.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 115.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in PayPal by 77.5% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. American National Bank acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.