Empower Advisory Group LLC Raises Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,112,169 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,199 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $86,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,636,644 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $501,184,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 28.1% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $493,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,925 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in PayPal by 180.7% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $287,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184,160 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in PayPal by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,189,947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $248,912,000 after purchasing an additional 364,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of PayPal by 14.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $183,789,000 after buying an additional 409,322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on PYPL shares. Barclays lifted their price target on PayPal from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $90.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on PayPal from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.45.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $86.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.98 and a twelve month high of $87.92.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 14.08%. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.