Short Interest in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Increases By 32.5%

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 32,930,000 shares, a growth of 32.5% from the January 31st total of 24,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PYPL. DZ Bank raised shares of PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $92.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. BTIG Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Macquarie boosted 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $90.03.

PayPal Stock Up 3.0 %

PYPL traded up $2.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.50. 14,450,001 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,261,711. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business's 50 day moving average is $82.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.09. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $56.97 and a fifty-two week high of $93.66. The stock has a market cap of $68.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,145,308.10. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth $1,086,508,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 12,919.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $819,315,000 after buying an additional 10,419,351 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in PayPal by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,529,823,000 after buying an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 86.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,307,945,000 after buying an additional 7,767,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in PayPal by 284.0% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $666,100,000 after buying an additional 5,772,198 shares during the last quarter. 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.