PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Earns "Outperform" Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $84.00 target price on the credit services provider's stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. New Street Research initiated coverage on PayPal in a research report on Friday, May 31st. They issued a buy rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their target price on PayPal from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on PayPal from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised PayPal from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on PayPal from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $73.64.

PayPal Trading Down 0.6 %

PYPL traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,278,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,036,051. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $50.25 and a fifty-two week high of $76.54. The stock has a market cap of $60.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.43. The business's 50-day moving average is $63.18 and its 200-day moving average is $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.14). PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 21.58%. The business had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PayPal will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 4,422 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total transaction of $272,616.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $861,620.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,069,337 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,173,254,000 after buying an additional 873,181 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $749,561,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,976,859 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $428,449,000 after buying an additional 265,116 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in PayPal by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,644,317 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $445,103,000 after purchasing an additional 904,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in PayPal by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,668,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $225,283,000 after purchasing an additional 61,384 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

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.