Patten & Patten Inc. TN Trims Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Patten & Patten Inc. TN trimmed its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 72.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 89,990 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,354 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 200.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 30,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after buying an additional 20,646 shares in the last quarter. Summerhill Capital Management lnc. boosted its position in PayPal by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Summerhill Capital Management lnc. now owns 47,304 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,762,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthShield Partners LLC bought a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth about $1,353,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still see value in the stock, with RBC and Daiwa assigning upbeat ratings, and commentary arguing PayPal may be cheap enough that expectations are already low.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings showed a beat on both EPS and revenue, suggesting the core business is still growing and executing better than expected.
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Hold rating, reflecting a wait-and-see stance rather than a strong bullish or bearish call.
• Negative Sentiment: Macquarie downgraded PayPal to Neutral and cut its price target, citing a softer second-quarter outlook and a cost-saving plan that appears back-end loaded. Macquarie Downgrades PayPal as Cost-Saving Plan Looks Too Back-End Loaded
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America also lowered its price target and kept a Neutral rating, adding to the cautious analyst tone around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority launched a competition probe into PayPal’s wallet funding and usage practices, raising regulatory uncertainty in an important international market. FCA Probe Tests PayPal’s UK Wallet Economics And Growth Narrative
• Negative Sentiment: Several recent articles argue that the market was not impressed by PayPal’s earnings beat, with investors focusing instead on slower growth expectations, competitive pressures, and margin concerns.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $45.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.99. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.50. The company has a market cap of $40.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.39.

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

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.51%.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,560,563.37. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,285,484.67. This trade represents a 54.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 96,199 shares of company stock valued at $4,294,018. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PYPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $70.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Stephens dropped their price objective on PayPal from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.42.

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.