Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $10.85 Million Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 127,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,500 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in PayPal were worth $10,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in shares of PayPal by 67.6% in 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 last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 344.3% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in PayPal by 186.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 125.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 437 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on PayPal from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.52.

PayPal Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of PYPL opened at $76.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.26. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.35 and a 200-day moving average of $79.93.

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

PayPal 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.