Lafayette Investments Inc. Buys 5,154 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,154 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in PayPal during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total transaction of $466,079.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,795.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $62.09. The company had a trading volume of 4,335,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,461,205. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.25 and a 1 year high of $76.54. The company has a market cap of $65.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.27 and its 200 day moving average is $59.90.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 20.84% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho cut their price target on PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JMP Securities raised their price target on PayPal from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Susquehanna raised their price target on PayPal from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on PayPal from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.47.

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.