PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 0.6% - Should You Buy?

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) shot up 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $78.67 and last traded at $78.44. 3,479,354 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 11,245,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PYPL. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on PayPal from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities reissued an "accumulate" rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.52.

PayPal Trading Down 3.5 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $74.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,736,394 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,849,884,000 after purchasing an additional 271,836 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,615,134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,582 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of PayPal by 108.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313,783 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,086,508,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.