PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL – Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

PYPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, October 6th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 14th. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, September 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.77.

View Our Latest Stock Report on PayPal

PayPal Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $59.65 on Friday. PayPal has a 52 week low of $50.25 and a 52 week high of $88.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $55.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $65.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.38.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 1st. The credit services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.08. PayPal had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 20.78%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that PayPal will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan Auerbach sold 64,957 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total value of $3,610,310.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 79,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,654.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jonathan Auerbach sold 64,957 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total value of $3,610,310.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 79,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,654.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Peggy Alford sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.76, for a total transaction of $851,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,304,512.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,170 shares of company stock valued at $4,475,210 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in PayPal by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,932 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Steel Peak Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Steel Peak Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,473 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,634,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 26,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Green Square Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Green Square Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,469 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, First County Bank CT increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 7,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. 68.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PayPal (Get Free Report)

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. The company provides payment solutions under the PayPal, PayPal Credit, Braintree, Venmo, Xoom, PayPal Zettle, Hyperwallet, PayPal Honey, and Paidy names. Its payments platform allows consumers to send and receive payments in approximately 200 markets and in approximately 150 currencies, withdraw funds to their bank accounts in 56 currencies, and hold balances in their PayPal accounts in 25 currencies.

Further Reading

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Before you consider PayPal, you’ll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street’s top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on… and PayPal wasn’t on the list.

While PayPal currently has a “Moderate Buy” rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

MarketBeat has just released its list of 20 stocks that Wall Street analysts hate. These companies may appear to have good fundamentals, but top analysts smell something seriously rotten. Are any of these companies lurking around your portfolio? Find out by clicking the link below.

Get This Free Report

Original: MarketBeat News Feed: PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com