PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America raised shares of PayPal from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on PayPal from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered PayPal from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.74.

PayPal Trading Up 1.8 %

PayPal stock traded up $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $91.02. The stock had a trading volume of 8,358,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,055,767. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $83.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.30. PayPal has a twelve month low of $55.77 and a twelve month high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The firm had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. PayPal's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that PayPal will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,307,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,767,072 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $819,315,000 after acquiring an additional 10,419,351 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $501,184,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in PayPal by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,015,816 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $469,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,356 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.