Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Acquires 18,172 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 697,077 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,172 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of PayPal worth $59,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $94,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 84,658 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,226,000 after buying an additional 2,436 shares during the period. SouthState Corp increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 61,843 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,278,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, GWN Securities Inc. bought a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $69.67. 7,450,470 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,928,085. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $78.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.89. The firm has a market cap of $68.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Macquarie increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded PayPal from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $107.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.03.

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.