JMP Securities Boosts PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Price Target to $70.00

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price target increased by stock analysts at JMP Securities from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. JMP Securities’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.65% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PYPL. Mizuho reduced their target price on PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Argus cut PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Susquehanna upped their price target on PayPal from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.53.

PayPal Price Performance

PayPal stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.26. The company had a trading volume of 7,851,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,701,428. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. PayPal has a 12-month low of $50.25 and a 12-month high of $77.94. The company has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.86.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vestcor Inc raised its stake in PayPal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 26,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 15,056 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.9% during the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 3,196 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 5.3% during the first quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 3,095 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.