Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,314 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,443 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $11,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $819,315,000 after buying an additional 10,419,351 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 86.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after buying an additional 7,767,072 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth about $387,435,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 174.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,233,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $361,316,000 after buying an additional 2,689,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 9,864.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,119,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $87,336,000 after buying an additional 1,108,030 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $77.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.50. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.77 and a 12-month high of $93.66.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded PayPal from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on PayPal from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.43.

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.