PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Rating Increased to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on PYPL. Dbs Bank decreased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $93.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on PayPal from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.10.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,193,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,496,643. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. PayPal has a 1-year low of $54.40 and a 1-year high of $90.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.82. The stock has a market cap of $50.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.14. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.64% and a net margin of 14.96%.The business had revenue of $8.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.97, for a total value of $264,706.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,171,731.33. The trade was a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total transaction of $615,303.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,699 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,486.71. The trade was a 20.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 36,156 shares of company stock valued at $2,432,524 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the second quarter valued at about $921,570,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in PayPal by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,177,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $548,520,000 after buying an additional 2,160,227 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 1,066.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,106,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $156,532,000 after buying an additional 1,925,583 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $97,794,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in PayPal by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,569,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal agreed to acquire e?commerce platform Cymbio to expand its agentic commerce capabilities — a strategic move that could help accelerate merchant integrations and revenue opportunities. PayPal to Acquire Cymbio
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal survey shows rising merchant adoption of crypto payments (~40% of U.S. merchants accepting crypto), which supports PayPal’s payment-innovation narrative and could drive new payment volume over time. Nearly 40% of US merchants now accept crypto at checkout: PayPal
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC lowered its price target from $93 to $72 but kept a Buy rating, implying meaningful upside from current levels — a reminder some analysts still see buy-side potential despite lowered expectations. HSBC adjusts price target on PayPal
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald initiated/updated coverage with a Hold/Neutral view, indicating cautious interest but no clear near?term upgrade trigger from their perspective. Cantor Fitzgerald initiates coverage of PayPal
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan preview expects PayPal to beat revenue consensus but deliver in?line earnings for Q4 — mixed read that may limit upside from the print unless guidance or margins surprise. PayPal Q4 Preview: Analyst Expects Revenue Beat
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and headlines note recent share weakness and tempered expectations; these pieces summarize the facts but don’t add a single catalyst. PayPal stock drops despite market gains
• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded PYPL from Neutral to Sell and cut its price target to $50, signaling near?term downside risk and putting immediate pressure on the stock. Rothschild downgrade to Sell
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst writeups and deep-dive pieces highlight a “brutal competitive landscape” and execution challenges that could limit margin expansion and growth re?acceleration — a thematic headwind for valuation. PayPal: A Brutal Competitive Landscape

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.