Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 12,695 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,737 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 12,695 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in PayPal were worth $6,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth $1,086,508,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,529,823,000 after buying an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 284.0% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $666,100,000 after acquiring an additional 5,772,198 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 174.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $361,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,615,134,000 after buying an additional 2,161,582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on PayPal from $104.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on PayPal from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.68.

PayPal Trading Up 0.3%

PYPL traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.54. 1,458,303 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,210,473. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.85 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.34.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.84 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. PayPal's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal 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.