Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 537.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. PayPal makes up about 1.3% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 115.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sutton Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, SVP Frank Keller sold 7,686 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $466,079.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,795.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.47.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,897,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,395,941. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.04. 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 has a market cap of $67.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.45. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.25 and a 12-month high of $76.54.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 20.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.04 EPS for the current 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.