PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded at Barclays

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a $55.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 4.18% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.61.

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock traded up $1.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.40. The company had a trading volume of 17,787,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,728,938. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. PayPal has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.16 and a 200-day moving average of $47.19. The firm has a market cap of $50.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.33.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total value of $536,170.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,687.32. This represents a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PayPal by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,043,000. Step Capital Management Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,130,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal by 705.2% in the 4th quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 100,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,876,000 after acquiring an additional 88,151 shares during the period. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 125,830 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,346,000 after acquiring an additional 47,653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The reported acquisition offer gives PayPal a clear takeover premium and lifts the stock on speculation that a deal could unlock value. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Several investors and analysts argue the bid may be too low, which could pressure Stripe and Advent to raise their offer and support a higher valuation for PYPL. MarketBeat article
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s fundamentals and cheap valuation have also attracted attention, with commentary pointing to strong cash flow and potential upside beyond the initial bid. Seeking Alpha article

PayPal Company Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal’s platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal’s portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree’s developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.