Needham & Company LLC Reiterates "Hold" Rating for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PYPL. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com cut PayPal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.77.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL traded up $1.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,076,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,259,060. The business's fifty day moving average is $65.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.10. The stock has a market cap of $65.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. PayPal has a 1 year low of $55.85 and a 1 year high of $93.66. 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 (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. PayPal's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in PayPal in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 81.6% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 445 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 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.