Freedom Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in PayPal by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,886 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in PayPal by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in PayPal by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 11,515 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 2,067 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PYPL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PayPal Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $60.28 on Tuesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.85 and a 52-week high of $93.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.06. The company has a market capitalization of $59.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60.

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. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.