Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 10,277 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 723,944 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,277 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $61,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 113.8% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 7,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after acquiring an additional 3,976 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in PayPal in the third quarter valued at about $387,435,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 697,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $59,489,000 after acquiring an additional 18,172 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC increased its position in PayPal by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,842,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in PayPal by 120.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,555,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $125,461,000 after buying an additional 849,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $69.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.97 and a 1 year high of $93.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly 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. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PYPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.03.

PayPal Company 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.