Citigroup Inc. Grows Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 27.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,076,865 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 444,235 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.21% of PayPal worth $135,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $248,000. Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 15,715 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in PayPal by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 143,613 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $12,257,000 after purchasing an additional 6,848 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on PYPL shares. Compass Point started coverage on PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "sell" rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on PayPal from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reduced their price target on PayPal from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 3,795 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $277,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,020,248. The trade was a 21.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,839 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.24, for a total value of $281,168.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,244,274.36. This trade represents a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,736 shares of company stock valued at $1,620,835. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PayPal Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $67.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.42. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.89 and a 200 day moving average of $71.65.

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

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.

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