Waycross Partners LLC Increases Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Key Points

• Waycross Partners LLC increased its stake in PayPal Holdings by 22.4%, owning a total of 180,449 shares valued at approximately $11.77 million following a significant purchase in the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments about PayPal, with ratings showing 14 holds, 19 buys, and two sells, while the average target price is set at $84.57.
• PayPal reported a 14.49% net margin and a quarterly earnings per share of $1.40, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.10.

Waycross Partners LLC increased its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,449 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,018 shares during the quarter. Waycross Partners LLC's holdings in PayPal were worth $11,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of PayPal by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in PayPal by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,559,376 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $558,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638,815 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in PayPal by 124.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,497,415 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $228,206,000 after buying an additional 1,936,520 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of PayPal by 19.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,238,218 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $733,294,000 after buying an additional 1,798,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,462,251 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $892,953,000 after buying an additional 1,669,908 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "sell" rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded PayPal from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on PayPal from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $75.00 price target on PayPal in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.57.

PayPal Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded down $0.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.65. 9,663,964 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,469,648. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $72.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.42. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.85 and a 12-month high of $93.66. 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 (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.10. The business 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 3,795 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 13,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,020,248. The trade was a 21.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.12, for a total transaction of $265,282.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,989 shares in the company, valued at $1,174,279.68. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,736 shares of company stock valued at $1,620,835. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

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.