5 Finance Stocks to Buy Today According to Billionaire Israel Englander

2. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 110

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) is an American multinational financial technology company that provides digital payment solutions in most countries around the world. Israel Englander’s fund boosted his position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 2155% in Q4 2021, with 1.40 million shares worth over $265 million. 

On April 18, Credit Suisse analyst Timothy Chiodo reiterated an Outperform rating on PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) but lowered the firm’s price target on the stock to $155 from $190 after model updates and increased levels of uncertainty emanating from numerous factors, such as CFO departure, inflationary challenges on low income consumers, discretionary spend, supply chain issues, and higher user churn. 

Among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 110 funds were bullish on PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) at the end of December 2021, compared to 123 funds in the prior quarter. Terry Smith’s Fundsmith LLP is a significant stakeholder of the company, with 13 million shares worth $2.45 billion. 

Here is what ClearBridge Investments Large Cap Growth Strategy has to say about PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“We entered a position in PayPal in December well aware of the electronic payment platform’s ambitious goals for user growth. The company has started to experience a reduction in revenue growth due to weakening in the macro environment and a deceleration in e-commerce broadly due to reopening headwinds and difficult comps. This led to a sharply reduced outlook for 2022 revenue and long-term earnings that has weighed on the stock. We initiated a position after the shares had already fallen 40% from their all-time high but were wrong in modeling that a muted outlook was already priced in. Nevertheless, we believe PayPal is fundamentally holding share in the industry and is set up for continued growth in e-commerce once reopening headwinds pass. The company onboarded nearly 120 million net new users over the last few years; naturally, many users will churn off the platform. We also see the company’s strategy to add additional use cases to its wallet such as investing, crypto, savings accounts and bill pay as catalysts to accelerate revenue growth over time.”