Avory & Company LLC Makes New $253,000 Investment in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Avory & Company LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000. PayPal makes up 0.2% of Avory & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PYPL. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 420.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,238,980 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $190,371,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,774 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,916,982 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575,930 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 271.6% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,533,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $89,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,700 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,069,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,173,254,000 after purchasing an additional 873,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,395,312 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $140,030,000 after purchasing an additional 864,684 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.32. The company had a trading volume of 36,355,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,494,016. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.25 and a twelve month high of $76.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.45.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.14). PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 20.84%. The company had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus lowered shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.72.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% 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.