PayPal Shares Down 3% In Premarket Trading After Downgrade To Sell

Paypal Holdings Inc. shares are down 3% in premarket trading after a downgrade to sell from neutral at Monness Crespi Hardt amid concerns about the payment company's long-term prospects due to increased competition. The price target is $32. Analysts said in a note published Monday that peer-to-peer payments remain the company's best growth driver while the other two, digital payments and the app economy, will have increased headwinds. "The payments space has been far from static over the last six months and we see PayPal's prospects diminishing relative to the rest of the field," the bank said. Still, analysts say there could be potential upside in the December quarter, which would render the downgrade "premature." PayPal shares are up 10.3% for the past three months, while the S&P is up 4.8%.