HSBC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at HSBC from $93.00 to $72.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. HSBC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 29.37% from the company’s current price.

PYPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on PayPal from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of PayPal from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (down from $93.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.87.

PayPal Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of PYPL stock traded down $0.95 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,595,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,257,373. The company has a market capitalization of $52.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42. PayPal has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $90.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.93.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.14. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.64% and a net margin of 14.96%.The business had revenue of $8.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total transaction of $860,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,799.21. This represents a 28.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.97, for a total transaction of $264,706.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,171,731.33. This trade represents a 18.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,156 shares of company stock valued at $2,432,524. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in PayPal by 48.9% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the second quarter worth about $654,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PayPal

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.