PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, July 19th. The brokerage currently has a $64.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock. Zacks Investment Research‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.11% from the company’s previous close.
According to Zacks, “PayPal is a worldwide online payments system operator. The company delivered strong first-quarter 2017 results, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate on both counts. The results were driven by continued strong performance in global payments, both online and mobile. Currently, the company is riding high on partnerships and mobile centrism. PayPal’s ongoing strategic partnerships with Visa and MasterCard offer great flexibility and choice to consumers. Partnerships with Facebook, Alibaba’s AliExpress and Alphabet’s Google, Intuit and other major retailers and financial institutions are also delivering positive results. However, continuous exposure to foreign exchange and interest rate risks are concerns. For the last one year, the stock has outperformed the Zacks Internet - Software industry.”
A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PYPL. UBS AG reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of PayPal Holdings in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Citigroup Inc. reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $67.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of PayPal Holdings in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Susquehanna Bancshares Inc lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal Holdings from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of PayPal Holdings in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective (up previously from $54.00) on shares of PayPal Holdings in a report on Saturday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.49.
Shares of PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded down 0.465% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.925. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,319,927 shares. PayPal Holdings has a 12 month low of $36.28 and a 12 month high of $61.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.22 and a 200-day moving average of $47.26. The company has a market cap of $70.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.520 and a beta of 0.95.
PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. PayPal Holdings had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. PayPal Holdings’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings will post $1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
PayPal Holdings declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 26th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 9.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
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In related news, EVP Gary J. Marino sold 1,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.03, for a total transaction of $72,994.53. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,491 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,638.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary J. Marino sold 1,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $70,848.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,967,527.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,501 shares of company stock valued at $240,989. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dodge & Cox bought a new stake in PayPal Holdings during the fourth quarter worth about $7,816,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in PayPal Holdings by 236.4% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 14,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 10,250 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in PayPal Holdings by 2.3% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 466,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,999,000 after buying an additional 10,270 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in PayPal Holdings during the first quarter worth about $127,000. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in PayPal Holdings by 8.6% in the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 12,907 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.
About PayPal Holdings
PayPal Holdings, Inc is a technology platform and digital payments company that enables digital and mobile payments on behalf of consumers and merchants. The Company’s combined payment solutions, including its PayPal, PayPal Credit, Braintree, Venmo, Xoom and Paydiant products, compose its Payments Platform.
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