PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,404,731 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 150,509 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of PayPal worth $119,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in PayPal by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,886 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 502 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 11,515 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 2,067 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on PYPL shares. Bank of America raised PayPal from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

PayPal Trading Down 8.1 %

Shares of PayPal stock traded down $5.44 during trading on Thursday, hitting $61.71. The stock had a trading volume of 18,465,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,255,639. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.97 and a 12 month 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. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $74.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.61. The stock has a market cap of $61.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About PayPal

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.