Wall Street Zen Upgrades PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) to "Buy"

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Compass Point began coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "sell" rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $75.00 price target on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities dropped their price objective on PayPal from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their target price on PayPal from $103.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on PayPal in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.57.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $67.11 on Friday. PayPal has a 52 week low of $55.85 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The stock's fifty day moving average is $73.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.41. The company has a market capitalization of $64.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earned $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.12, for a total value of $265,282.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,174,279.68. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 7,102 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total transaction of $492,523.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,736 shares of company stock worth $1,620,835 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. J. Goldman & Co LP boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 261,322 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $22,304,000 after acquiring an additional 27,812 shares during the period. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. purchased a new position in PayPal during the 1st quarter worth $535,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,634,664 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $651,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,858 shares during the period. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $939,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 41.7% in the first quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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