Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys 185,694 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in PayPal Holdings by 8.2%, now holding 2,453,258 shares, which constitutes 2.4% of its portfolio.
• Executives Diego Scotti and Deborah M. Messemer sold shares of PayPal, reducing their ownership by 18.43% and 21.36% respectively.
• PayPal reported earnings of $1.40 per share, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $8.29 billion for the latest quarter.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,453,258 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 185,694 shares during the quarter. PayPal comprises 2.4% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned about 0.25% of PayPal worth $160,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $248,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 295,990 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $24,711,000 after purchasing an additional 6,255 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 96,426 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $8,230,000 after buying an additional 2,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PYPL. Macquarie reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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 transaction, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 7,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total transaction of $492,523.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,736 shares of company stock worth $1,620,835 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL traded down $0.57 on Friday, hitting $67.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,663,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,469,648. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The firm has a market cap of $64.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $72.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.80.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.08 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.35% and a net margin of 14.49%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts forecast 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.