PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Down 1.7% - Should You Sell?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) dropped 1.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $72.87 and last traded at $72.82. Approximately 3,613,061 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 11,541,108 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Phillip Securities restated an "accumulate" rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of PayPal from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of PayPal from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.03.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $70.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $83.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.05.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,886 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 502 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 11,515 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 2,067 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.