PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Up 3.1% – Here’s What Happened

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded up 3.1% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $59.03 and last traded at $58.78. Approximately 14,488,588 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 17,163,096 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of PayPal from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.94.

PayPal Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $48.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.04.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $8.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 24th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is 10.69%.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.43, for a total value of $255,643.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,304,058.81. This trade represents a 9.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 552 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total transaction of $30,249.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,520. This trade represents a 18.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,437 shares of company stock worth $768,417. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ACT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.2% during the third quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,783 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 3.5% in the first quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.0% in the first quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,608 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 3.7% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,629 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.4% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 20,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Company Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and businesses to send, receive, and manage money online and through mobile devices. Its services support online checkout, peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, payment processing, invoicing, and other commerce-related transactions.

The company’s portfolio includes the PayPal and Venmo brands, Braintree’s payment processing technology, and Xoom’s international money transfer service. PayPal also offers merchant tools, digital wallets, payment solutions, and consumer financing products through its platform and related services.

PayPal traces its origins to 1998 and became an independent publicly traded company after separating from eBay in 2015.