PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Up 2.3% – Time to Buy?

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded up 2.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $60.76 and last traded at $60.59. 9,513,943 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 18,933,453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $59.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.72.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $51.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.37 and its 200 day moving average is $47.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The business had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $42,529.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,042.70. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $77,679.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,749.60. The trade was a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,612 shares of company stock valued at $484,534. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the period. United Bank raised its position in PayPal by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in PayPal by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,909 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 2,865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal’s platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal’s portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree’s developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.