Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 367 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,147 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in PayPal by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 47.1% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,385 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 9.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 695,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,253,000 after acquiring an additional 62,060 shares during the last quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC increased its position in PayPal by 4.0% during the third quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 70,813 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares during the period. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at $304,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Macquarie upped their price target on PayPal from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.52.

PayPal Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $76.27 on Thursday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.97 and a 12-month high of $93.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $75.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 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.