Xponance Inc. Trims Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 259,898 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,968 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $15,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 26,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 15,056 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its stake in PayPal by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 3,196 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 3,095 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in PayPal by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PYPL. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on PayPal from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (down previously from $118.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PayPal Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $62.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,195,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,625,262. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $65.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.89. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.25 and a 52 week high of $76.54.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 20.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 3.93 EPS 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.