PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 2.3% Higher – What’s Next?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was up 2.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $57.55 and last traded at $57.15. Approximately 14,470,772 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 15,842,984 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.89.

More PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition: PayPal is buying Cymbio to accelerate agentic commerce and AI shopping capabilities, expanding its merchant-facing automation and dropship toolset — a clear strategic rationale cited by multiple outlets and the main near-term catalyst lifting the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Deal details & coverage: Reporting emphasizes the acquisition will integrate Cymbio’s tech and team to expand PayPal’s agentic commerce offerings and accelerate merchant adoption; the deal is expected to close in H1 2026. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market context: Analysts and outlets are debating whether the AI push can spark a sustained revival after a deep multi?month/one?year share decline; some coverage compares PayPal to peers and weighs long-term optionality without endorsing a clear valuation change. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor take: Commentaries and forecasts (price?target pieces and multi?year projections) highlight opportunity but disagree on timing; these pieces are informative but less likely to move price than the acquisition news. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive & valuation headwinds: Coverage notes PayPal’s stock has fallen materially over the past year amid pressure from Apple Pay, Stripe and other fintechs offering lower fees and tighter integrations — a reminder that strategic wins must translate to share gains. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Technical weakness: Technical/technical?analyst pieces highlight that PYPL recently lost key support levels, fueling sell?side concern that the stock could remain rangebound or see further downside absent clear revenue/market?share improvement. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Macro swing: Short-term relief from macro/policy noise also helped — earlier reports said a tariff threat that had stoked volatility was defused, removing a near-term external risk. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PYPL shares. President Capital lowered their price target on PayPal from $91.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Stephens set a $65.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.84.

PayPal Stock Up 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.91 and a 200-day moving average of $66.39.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $8.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.21 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.64% and a net margin of 14.96%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. PayPal has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.270-1.310 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.390 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. PayPal’s payout ratio is 11.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total value of $860,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,799.21. This represents a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.13, for a total transaction of $94,984.62. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,156 shares of company stock worth $2,432,524. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in PayPal by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 41.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 38.1% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 21,179 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after buying an additional 5,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 11.7% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 31,535 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after buying an additional 3,302 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal’s platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal’s portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree’s developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.