Piper Sandler Increases PayPal Price Target to $93

Piper Sandler has raised its price target for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from $88.00 to $93.00 in a research note published on Friday. The brokerage continues to hold a "neutral" rating on the stock of the credit services provider. This revised price target implies a potential upside of approximately 3.64% from PayPal's current share price.

Market Sentiment Around PayPal

Several other equity research analysts have also recently provided their insights on PayPal's stock. For instance, a research report from the Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating, along with a target price of $100.00 for PayPal shares, dated December 12th. Moreover, on December 17th, Macquarie raised its own price target from $95.00 to $115.00 and maintained an "outperform" rating. On December 24th, StockNews.com upgraded PayPal from a "hold" to a "buy" rating. Additionally, Susquehanna increased its target price from $94.00 to $101.00, giving PayPal a "positive" rating on January 6th. Citigroup also raised its price target from $94.00 to $97.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating on January 14th.

A broader look at analyst ratings shows that among the investment community, fourteen analysts have rated PayPal as a hold, while twenty-one analysts rate it as a buy, and one analyst gives it a strong buy rating, according to MarketBeat. This leads to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for the stock, with an average price target of $89.48.

PayPal's Recent Performance and Financials

PayPal's stock opened at $89.73 on Friday. The company maintains a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.25, and a quick ratio of 1.25. Over the past weeks, PayPal's stock has shown a 50-day simple moving average resting at $87.62 and a 200-day simple moving average at $77.49. The firm boasts a market capitalization of approximately $89.96 billion, with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 21.42 and a price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio of 1.54. Over the past year, PayPal's stock ranged from a low of $55.77 to a high of $93.66.

In terms of financial performance, PayPal reported its quarterly earnings on October 29th, showcasing earnings per share (EPS) of $1.20, surpassing the analyst consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. For that quarter, revenue reached $7.85 billion, which was slightly below analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. The company achieved a return on equity of 23.44% and a net margin of 14.08%. Compared to the same quarter the previous year, PayPal's revenue increased by 6.0%. Analysts predict that PayPal will report earnings of 4.58 per share in the current fiscal year.

Investors Adjusting Positions

Recently, several institutional investors and hedge funds have made adjustments to their positions in PayPal. For instance, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in PayPal by 67.6% in the fourth quarter, now holding 310 shares valued at $26,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd also acquired a new stake in PayPal worth approximately $26,000 during the third quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC expanded its holdings in PayPal by an impressive 344.3%, owning now 351 shares valued at $30,000. Other firms, such as Planning Capital Management Corp and Financial Management Professionals Inc., also significantly increased their stakes in PayPal during this timeframe. Institutional and hedge fund investors collectively own about 68.32% of PayPal stock.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates a technology platform that facilitates digital payments globally for both merchants and consumers. The platform establishes a comprehensive network that connects these users, allowing them to conduct transactions, send and receive payments online or in person, and manage funds through various accounts and payment methods, including bank accounts, PayPal and Venmo account balances, credit and debit cards, and even cryptocurrencies.

PayPal, Investment, Analysts