PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 2.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares traded up 2.2% during trading on Thursday after Barclays upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating. Barclays now has a $55.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $42.00. PayPal traded as high as $57.67 and last traded at $56.73. 33,195,157 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 67% from the average session volume of 19,850,676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.52.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PayPal in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623 in the last quarter. 0.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A reported $53 billion buyout offer from Stripe and Advent sparked takeover speculation and drove a sharp re-rating of PayPal shares.
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and investors argue the initial $60.50-per-share bid undervalues PayPal, raising the possibility of a higher offer.
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays and Canaccord improved their views on PYPL, but their targets remain close to or below the current share price, signaling cautious optimism rather than full conviction.
• Negative Sentiment: The deal still faces uncertainty from valuation disagreements and potential regulatory scrutiny, so the takeover is not yet a done deal.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 15,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Trading Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $50.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.19.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.51%.

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.