Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 7,605 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 9.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,221 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 7,605 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PayPal were worth $5,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 50.6% in the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 930.0% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 186.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PYPL. Barclays raised their price target on PayPal from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.45.

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL opened at $85.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.28 and a 12-month high of $87.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.02.

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