Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 35,753 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 3.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,128,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 35,753 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $75,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of PayPal by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 154,991 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after purchasing an additional 4,165 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,855,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $191,516,000 after buying an additional 51,268 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.5% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 164,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,058,000 after buying an additional 22,139 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of PayPal by 7.9% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,292,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $291,338,000 after acquiring an additional 313,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth $13,210,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total value of $615,303.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,699 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,486.71. This trade represents a 20.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.84, for a total transaction of $249,054.08. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,022.72. This represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $40.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on PayPal from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on PayPal from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.30.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board names experienced external leader Enrique Lores as incoming CEO (effective March 1), which could speed execution and strategic change over time. PayPal hires HP’s Enrique Lores as its new CEO
• Positive Sentiment: Some bullish analysts see the selloff as a buying opportunity and at least one firm (Macquarie) kept an Outperform view and a high price target, signaling pockets of conviction among institutional investors. Benzinga – Macquarie Outperform
• Neutral Sentiment: Underlying volumes remained positive: Total payment volume (TPV) grew year?over?year (mid?single to high?single digits in Q4), showing continuing demand even as checkout metrics soften. PayPal in Charts: Total Payment Volume rose 8.5% Y/Y in Q4
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 EPS and revenue missed Street expectations (adjusted EPS ~$1.23 vs. ~$1.29 expected; revenue ~$8.68B vs. ~$8.8B), and management issued a weaker 2026 profit outlook — the primary catalyst for the sharp selloff. PayPal Is Plunging 14% As Profits Come Up Short
• Negative Sentiment: Surprise leadership change (Alex Chriss stepping down; interim CEO until Lores starts) intensified investor concern about execution and strategy execution, amplifying volatility. PayPal Stock Sinks After Company Warns of Earnings Drop and Names New CEO
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades, big market?cap losses and active securities?fraud/shareholder investigations and law?firm outreach are increasing headline risk and may prolong downside pressure. Securities Fraud Investigation Into PayPal Announced

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $41.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.43 and a 52 week high of $82.69.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). PayPal had a return on equity of 25.64% and a net margin of 14.96%.The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is 11.22%.

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.