Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Hold” Rating for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PYPL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on PayPal from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down previously from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.72.

PayPal Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded up $0.78 on Tuesday, hitting $67.77. 31,878,573 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,442,420. PayPal has a 52 week low of $50.25 and a 52 week high of $76.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.27. The company has a market cap of $71.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.45. 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 (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.14). PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that PayPal will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total transaction of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. American National Bank bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in PayPal by 115.0% during the third quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in PayPal in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.