PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Given "Hold" Rating at Canaccord Genuity Group

Key Points

• Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed its Hold rating on PayPal and kept a $42 price target, implying modest downside from the previous close.
• Other analysts remain cautious overall: while a few firms raised targets or upgraded ratings, MarketBeat’s consensus still shows a Hold with an average price target of $55.85.
• PayPal reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.34 and revenue of $8.35 billion, both topping estimates; the stock was down about 1.2% in Wednesday trading.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $42.00 price target on the credit services provider's stock. Canaccord Genuity Group's target price suggests a potential downside of 4.18% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on PYPL. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $63.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Compass Point upgraded shares of PayPal from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.85.

PayPal Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $43.83 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. PayPal has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.48 and a 200-day moving average of $52.57. The company has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.39.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The company had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total value of $536,170.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,076,687.32. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 57,373 shares of company stock valued at $2,684,341 over the last 90 days. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the first quarter valued at $86,000. Orographic Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the first quarter valued at $926,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in PayPal by 67.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,158,554,000 after acquiring an additional 10,356,256 shares during the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the first quarter valued at $660,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 15.3% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

PayPal Company Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal's platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal's portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree's developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.

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