PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.03.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on PayPal from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens raised their target price on PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna raised their target price on PayPal from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on PayPal from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $81.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $85.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.11 and a 200 day moving average of $66.95. PayPal has a 12 month low of $50.25 and a 12 month high of $82.48.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The company had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. PayPal’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $501,184,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 180.7% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $287,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184,160 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in PayPal by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $183,789,000 after acquiring an additional 409,322 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 3,046,502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $176,789,000 after acquiring an additional 146,643 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.