PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 1%

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) shares fell 1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $78.69 and last traded at $79.27. 3,840,887 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 14,059,392 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $84.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. William Blair raised PayPal to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of PayPal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.38.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $81.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.93.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The firm had revenue of $7.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 77.5% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 394 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. American National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the second quarter worth about $29,000. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.