PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 0.6%

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $65.02 and last traded at $64.93. 1,953,905 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 17,549,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of PayPal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.47.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $69.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $61.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.12. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in PayPal by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,620 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the 1st quarter worth approximately $446,000. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 340,801 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $22,830,000 after buying an additional 24,339 shares in the last quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $839,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% 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.