PayPal Stock Popped On Thursday: What's Going On?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL shares traded higher on above-average volume Thursday, adding to gains of nearly 8% over the last week. Here’s a look at what’s going on.

What To Know: PayPal shares made a strong move to the upside Thursday on heavy volume despite a lack of company-specific news.

PayPal’s average session volume is approximately 11.98 million over a 100-day period, but Thursday’s volume crossed the 21 million mark, according to Benzinga Pro. The stock was trending across various social platforms on Thursday as traders searched for a catalyst behind the upside momentum.

One development that could be impacting the stock this week is Monday’s announcement that Christopher Natali has been appointed as the company’s Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, effective June 20. Natali brings a wealth of experience, having previously served in key finance roles at Alteryx, Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, among others.

Analysts have also become incrementally more positive on PayPal since the company reported first-quarter earnings results at the end of April. Most recently, New Street Research analyst Soomit Datta initiated coverage on PayPal with a Buy rating and price target of $80. Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev also upgraded the stock last week, taking PayPal from Neutral to Buy and raising the price target from $68 to $90.

PayPal is not due to report earnings again until the end of July. Analysts are currently calling for EPS of 98 cents and revenue of $7.785 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.

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PYPL Price Action: PayPal Holdings shares closed Thursday up 5.49% at $67.02, according to Benzinga Pro.

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