Macquarie Reaffirms "Outperform" Rating for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Key Points

• PayPal's stock has an "outperform" rating reaffirmed by **Macquarie**, with a price target of **$95.00**, suggesting a potential upside of **32.98%** from its previous close.
• Various analysts have issued mixed ratings, with **19 buy**, **17 hold**, and **2 sell** ratings, reflecting an average price target of **$84.10** for the company.
• Insider transactions include significant sales by key executives, with **11,796 shares sold** in the last quarter, indicating a **21.36% decrease** in position for one director.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Macquarie in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 price target on the credit services provider's stock. Macquarie's target price points to a potential upside of 40.90% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on PYPL. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $75.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price objective on shares of PayPal and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.57.

PayPal Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of PYPL stock traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $67.42. 4,854,274 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,202,932. PayPal has a 1-year low of $55.85 and a 1-year high of $93.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.45.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.49% and a return on equity of 25.35%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.24, for a total transaction of $304,824.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 48,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,550,894.92. This represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 3,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $277,035.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,020,248. The trade was a 21.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,796 shares of company stock worth $863,028 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in 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 worth $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in PayPal during the first quarter worth about $529,264,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in PayPal by 44.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,559,376 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $558,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638,815 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,161,582 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in PayPal by 124.1% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,497,415 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $228,206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,520 shares in the last quarter. 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.