Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 46.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 867,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 274,443 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $53,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,246,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $144,215,000 after acquiring an additional 138,875 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 8.6% during the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,894 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.4% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,860 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in PayPal by 136.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 3,095 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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 firm’s 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $62.31 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.25 and a 1 year high of $76.54. 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 has a market cap of $65.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.93.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 20.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PYPL. Argus downgraded shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, 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. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.47.

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.