Argent Trust Co Buys 2,677 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,677 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.9% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. DCF Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 10.0% in the first quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the first quarter valued at about $238,000. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 15.1% in the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 120,459 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,860,000 after buying an additional 15,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 17.5% in the first quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 11,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on PYPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities lowered their target price on PayPal from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial started coverage on PayPal in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on PayPal from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.12, for a total transaction of $265,282.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,174,279.68. The trade was a 18.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.24, for a total value of $304,824.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 48,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,550,894.92. This trade represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,736 shares of company stock valued at $1,620,835 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Trading Down 2.4%

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $67.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $64.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.18. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.85 and a 12-month high of $93.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.08 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.35% and a net margin of 14.49%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal 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.