BNP Paribas Decreases Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

BNP Paribas decreased its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,640 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 249 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in PayPal were worth $2,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in PayPal by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,736,394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,849,884,000 after purchasing an additional 271,836 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,615,134,000 after buying an additional 2,161,582 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 108.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,823,000 after acquiring an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,086,508,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in PayPal by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,462,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $892,953,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669,908 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL opened at $67.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $65.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.10. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.85 and a 1 year high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.84 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PYPL shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on PayPal from $103.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. DZ Bank raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.