Citigroup Lowers PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Price Target to $42.00

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Citigroup from $60.00 to $42.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 5.26% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PYPL. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $42.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on PayPal from $64.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.88.

PayPal Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $39.90 on Wednesday. PayPal has a 52-week low of $38.88 and a 52-week high of $79.74. The stock has a market cap of $36.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.38, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced 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 net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total transaction of $615,303.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,366,486.71. This represents a 20.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.84, for a total transaction of $249,054.08. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,022.72. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PayPal by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,874,637,000 after buying an additional 636,441 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the second quarter worth about $921,570,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of PayPal by 1.6% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 11,992,031 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $891,248,000 after buying an additional 184,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 10.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,131,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $746,508,000 after buying an additional 1,093,365 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

More PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company announced discretionary buybacks and a new dividend, which provide near-term support for the stock and signal management willingness to return capital to shareholders. PayPal: Double-Digit Buybacks…
• Positive Sentiment: Some value-focused analysts and commentary argue the stock is deeply oversold and presents a buying opportunity at current depressed multiples. Should You Buy The Dip In PayPal Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal remains a core fintech name within the Nasdaq/sector narrative, meaning it could benefit from any tech/fintech rotation back into the space. PayPal Remains Central…
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent analyst research reports vary — some maintain Hold/Neutral with reduced targets while others keep positive stances after trimming forecasts; this divergence is contributing to volatile intraday trading. Analyst Report: PayPal Holdings Inc
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results missed EPS and revenue expectations and management issued a materially lower 2026 profit outlook — the core catalyst that started the rout. PayPal Replaces CEO…
• Negative Sentiment: Board ousted CEO Alex Chriss and appointed new leadership (reports name HP’s Enrique Lores), creating near-term execution uncertainty. PayPal replaces CEO Alex Chriss…
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple firms cut price targets and downgraded the stock following the miss/CEO change — increasing selling pressure and reducing analyst support. These PayPal Analysts Downgrade…
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder class-action / securities-fraud investigations have been announced by multiple law firms tied to the gap between prior guidance and results, which can increase legal overhang and investor risk. Investigation Examines Gap…
• Negative Sentiment: Momentum/technical damage: PYPL has hit multiyear lows, with heavy volume and a cascade of retail/quant selling amplifying downside. Reaches New 12-Month Low After Earnings Miss

PayPal Company 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.