Franklin Resources Inc. Has $125.46 Million Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 120.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 849,311 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.16% of PayPal worth $125,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 21.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,358 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in PayPal by 107.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 11,241 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 5,834 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of PayPal by 10.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,206,028 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $69,986,000 after acquiring an additional 112,726 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,234,000. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,516 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PYPL shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of PayPal from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on PayPal from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.74.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $91.30. 7,394,239 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,032,401. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $55.77 and a one year high of $93.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $83.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.38. The company has a market capitalization of $91.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.13. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

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.