North Star Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

North Star Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 217,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,293 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $18,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. J. Goldman & Co LP lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 261,322 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,304,000 after purchasing an additional 27,812 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 697,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $59,489,000 after purchasing an additional 18,172 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 223.1% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 265,048 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,622,000 after purchasing an additional 183,011 shares during the last quarter. StoneX Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 27,249 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 11,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ring Mountain Capital LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $581,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on PYPL shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on PayPal from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Arete Research set a $81.00 price objective on PayPal in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Macquarie reduced their price objective on PayPal from $117.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. DZ Bank raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on PayPal from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.68.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL opened at $69.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.16. The stock has a market cap of $67.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.85 and a 1-year high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal 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.