Alberta Investment Management Corp Raises Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in PayPal by 62.6% in Q1, now owning 70,900 shares valued at approximately $4.63 million.
• Analyst ratings for PayPal reflect a mixed outlook, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $84.57.
• PayPal reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.40, surpassing forecasts, and achieved $8.29 billion in revenue during the same period.

Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 62.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,900 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,300 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in PayPal were worth $4,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PYPL. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 726.0% in the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 413 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 81.6% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 445 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 7,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total transaction of $492,523.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 3,795 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total value of $277,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,020,248. This represents a 21.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,736 shares of company stock valued at $1,620,835. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PYPL. Piper Sandler set a $74.00 price objective on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on PayPal from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.57.

PayPal Price Performance

PayPal stock traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $68.01. The company had a trading volume of 11,745,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,634,702. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $73.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.18. The company has a market capitalization of $64.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.85 and a 12-month high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.49% and a return on equity of 25.35%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 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.