Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Acquires 12,000 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. raised its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 60.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the quarter. PayPal accounts for approximately 1.2% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.'s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,307,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,767,072 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $819,315,000 after purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $501,184,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 28.1% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 21.6% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,015,816 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $469,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069,356 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company's stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.82. The company had a trading volume of 3,009,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,396,715. The stock has a market cap of $90.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.44. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $87.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.77 and a 12 month high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The business's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Phillip Securities reiterated an "accumulate" rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of PayPal from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PayPal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.32.

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.