Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,547 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,114 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in PayPal were worth $3,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PayPal by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 355.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,967,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $224,665,000 after purchasing an additional 3,875,688 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 143.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,089,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $297,130,000 after buying an additional 2,998,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 261.5% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,291,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $133,761,000 after buying an additional 1,657,458 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PYPL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price target on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Clear Str raised shares of PayPal to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of PayPal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total transaction of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,687.32. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623 over the last 90 days. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The reported takeover interest from Stripe and Advent has fueled speculation that PayPal could be worth more than the current offer, with several analysts and investors arguing the bid is too low. Reuters: PayPal board sees Stripe-Advent offer as inadequate, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests the bid could force a higher valuation for PYPL, potentially supporting further upside if negotiations continue or a competing offer emerges. Yahoo Finance: Cantor sees potential for higher PayPal offer as analysis suggests $70/share value
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal’s board has reportedly not formally responded yet, so the deal is still early-stage and subject to negotiation, financing, and regulatory risk. Yahoo Finance weekly review
• Negative Sentiment: The board is said to view the $53 billion proposal as inadequate, which could mean a longer path to any deal or no deal at all if a higher price does not materialize. PYMNTS: PayPal Board Calls $53 Billion Stripe-Advent Bid Inadequate

PayPal Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of PYPL opened at $56.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.33. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

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

PayPal Profile

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.