Allianz SE Makes New $679,000 Investment in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 7,946 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $679,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in PayPal by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 344.3% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.03.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $65.15 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $76.28 and its 200 day moving average is $80.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The stock has a market cap of $64.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current 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.