PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Sold by Wesleyan Assurance Society

Wesleyan Assurance Society decreased its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 144,850 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Wesleyan Assurance Society’s holdings in PayPal were worth $12,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $5,155,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $292,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 22,658 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $2,162,000. Finally, Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $939,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PYPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $110.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Arete Research set a $81.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.68.

PayPal Stock Up 0.2%

PYPL stock opened at $72.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $66.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.34. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.84 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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.