PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Given New $68.00 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price target increased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $66.00 to $68.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective points to a potential upside of 8.73% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Argus lowered shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down previously from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.47.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL stock traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $62.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,803,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,555,566. PayPal has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $76.54. The company has a market cap of $65.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.89.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 20.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that PayPal will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,423,344 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,449,434,000 after buying an additional 1,202,956 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,947,345 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,586,966,000 after buying an additional 235,651 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,069,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,173,254,000 after buying an additional 873,181 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 110,462.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,136,071 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,220,431,000 after buying an additional 17,120,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,022,333,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Company 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.