United Asset Strategies Inc. Sells 16,204 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

United Asset Strategies Inc. trimmed its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 36.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,303 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 16,204 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 13,985 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,266,000. VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 11,755 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in PayPal by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 285,579 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,537,000 after buying an additional 164,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $525,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Down 0.1 %

PYPL opened at $63.43 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $66.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.25 and a twelve month high of $77.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.86.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced 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 company had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 20.84%. PayPal’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PYPL. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $66.00 price target (down previously from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.47.

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.