Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 41.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,417 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,071 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in PayPal were worth $3,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at about $387,435,000. United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter valued at approximately $810,000. FCG Investment Co purchased a new position in PayPal during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,079,000. Equity Investment Corp raised its stake in PayPal by 3.5% in the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,998,298 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $155,927,000 after buying an additional 67,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weil Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 41,689 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,253,000 after acquiring an additional 17,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded PayPal from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.32.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL traded up $2.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $91.81. 16,468,435 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,520,381. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.49. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.77 and a twelve month high of $93.66. The firm has a market cap of $92.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.44.

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