Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $545,000 Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 8,882 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of PayPal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,069,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,173,254,000 after purchasing an additional 873,181 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in PayPal by 0.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,767,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $687,902,000 after acquiring an additional 78,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in PayPal by 29.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,916,982 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $404,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575,930 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in PayPal by 4.6% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,906,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $286,835,000 after acquiring an additional 215,835 shares during the period. Finally, Atreides Management LP raised its position in PayPal by 9.3% in the third quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 4,174,520 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $244,042,000 after acquiring an additional 355,411 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.47.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $64.10. 11,694,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,248,546. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $67.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.45. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.25 and a 52-week high of $76.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.08.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal 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.