Hartline Investment Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Hartline Investment Corp trimmed its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,527 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,992 shares during the quarter. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in PayPal were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in PayPal by 115.0% during the third quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its position in PayPal by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Up 0.6 %

PYPL traded up $0.41 on Wednesday, reaching $64.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,173,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,305,638. The stock has a market cap of $68.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.45. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.25 and a 1 year high of $76.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.53 and its 200 day moving average is $60.04.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PYPL. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 price target (down from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on PayPal from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on PayPal from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.