PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Stock Sold by Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 416,293 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 21,508 shares during the period. PayPal accounts for approximately 2.3% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $21,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal during the second quarter worth about $3,236,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 67.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,158,554,000 after purchasing an additional 10,356,256 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 227.6% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $624,364,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,488 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the second quarter worth $422,092,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in PayPal in the second quarter valued at $20,758,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total value of $30,249.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,520. This trade represents a 18.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total value of $253,715.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,723.68. The trade was a 11.84% 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. Insiders sold 13,437 shares of company stock worth $768,417 in the last quarter. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on PayPal from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on PayPal from $43.50 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.94.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s earnings-call commentary highlighted progress in diversifying beyond its traditional checkout business, including growth in financial services, strong Venmo engagement, product expansion and continued cost discipline. These developments suggest improving operating execution and helped support the stock. The 5 most interesting analyst questions from PayPal’s Q3 earnings call
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal remains viewed as a potentially attractive value stock: commentary points to ongoing revenue growth, robust free cash flow and substantial share-repurchase capacity. Its relatively low valuation could provide downside support if the turnaround gains traction. Is PayPal Stock a Value or a Value Trap?
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its 2027 EPS forecasts for the first and third quarters but lowered its fourth-quarter estimate, leaving the overall earnings outlook mixed rather than materially changed.
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal is included among financial-transaction companies that could benefit from resilient consumer spending, cross-border payments and strategic acquisitions. However, rising technology costs and inflation remain industry-wide risks. 5 Financial Transaction Stocks to Watch Amid Cost and Inflation Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgraded PayPal to Underweight and cut its price target to $53 from $56, citing slowing growth in core checkout, secular pressure on the branded button and a lower likelihood of a takeover. Barclays lowers PayPal stock to Underweight on slowing fundamentals
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms, including Canaccord Genuity, Needham, BTIG and Bernstein, maintained Hold or Neutral views, while Citigroup lowered its expectations. The broad lack of bullish analyst conviction continues to weigh on sentiment.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $57.01 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $70.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $55.36 and its 200-day moving average is $50.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.14. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $8.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s payout ratio is currently 10.69%.

About PayPal

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.