Piper Sandler Begins Coverage on PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Analysts at Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating and a $74.00 price target on the credit services provider's stock. Piper Sandler's price target indicates a potential upside of 2.76% from the stock's previous close.

PYPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on PayPal from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.42.

PayPal Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $72.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $70.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. PayPal has a 52 week low of $55.85 and a 52 week high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.17. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 24.59%. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. PayPal's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.24, for a total transaction of $304,824.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,483 shares in the company, valued at $3,550,894.92. This trade represents a 7.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 3,795 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total value of $277,035.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,020,248. This represents a 21.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,796 shares of company stock worth $863,028. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB increased its position in PayPal by 28.4% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 912,270 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $59,526,000 after purchasing an additional 201,990 shares during the last quarter. Cim LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 0.3% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 99,062 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,464,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 61.1% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,091 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in PayPal in the first quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in PayPal during the 1st quarter worth $21,140,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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