PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shot up 1.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $74.59 and last traded at $74.81. 1,903,489 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 11,038,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on PYPL shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on PayPal from $104.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Arete Research set a $81.00 price objective on PayPal in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.29.

PayPal Stock Performance

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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.04. The company has a market capitalization of $72.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.45.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.84 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.24, for a total value of $304,824.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,483 shares in the company, valued at $3,550,894.92. This represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,839 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.24, for a total value of $281,168.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,244,274.36. This trade represents a 18.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,796 shares of company stock worth $863,028 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its position in PayPal by 726.0% in the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 413 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.