Clearstead Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Clearstead Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 90.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,289 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 119,262 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $921,570,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in PayPal by 1.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in PayPal by 5.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,038,584 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $746,068,000 after buying an additional 522,514 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in PayPal by 9.5% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,542,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $486,235,000 after acquiring an additional 568,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in PayPal by 1.6% during the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,522,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $484,771,000 after acquiring an additional 103,718 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Takeover chatter: Reports that Stripe is in early talks to buy some or all of PayPal triggered a volatility halt and heavy buying, pushing the stock higher as investors priced a potential acquisition premium. This is the primary bullish catalyst today. PayPal Stock Halted on Stripe Rumor: Why the Narrative Just Changed
• Positive Sentiment: Options and volume flow: Large call buying and a spike in volume indicate institutional and speculative positioning around M&A expectations, amplifying upside momentum if deal-talks continue. Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of PayPal Call Options
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest rose materially in February (up ~20% to ~51.8M shares, ~5.6% of float; ~1.2 days to cover). That increases put/call dynamics and could both pressure the stock if fundamentals disappoint or accelerate a squeeze during takeover rumblings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/strategy debate: Multiple commentaries argue PayPal is deeply undervalued based on cash flow and asset value (some bullish), while others caution execution risk — this keeps sentiment bifurcated and trading volatile. PayPal’s Brutal Reset Hides A Cash Machine
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities class-action notices and law-firm investor alerts surfaced (several firms), alleging disclosure problems tied to the past year’s performance; deadline to seek lead plaintiff is Apr 20, 2026. Legal risk can pressure the share price and increase uncertainty around any strategic process. PYPL SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Securities Fraud Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of PayPal Holdings, Inc. Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory & disclosure probes: Firms are investigating PayPal’s disclosures around operating metrics after last year’s stock decline — adds execution and compliance risk that could complicate any M&A timetable or valuation. PayPal Investigation Focuses on Key Performance Metric Disclosures
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution: Some firms have cut price targets and reiterated concerns about slowing branded-checkout growth and leadership turnover — bearish views could cap upside absent a formal bid. Wells Fargo Lowers PT on PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL)

PayPal Stock Up 0.6%

PYPL stock opened at $47.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.57 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.13 and a 200 day moving average of $61.68.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC cut shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 target price (down from $93.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on PayPal from $91.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total transaction of $1,560,563.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,285,484.67. The trade was a 54.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.49, for a total transaction of $49,114.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,357.96. The trade was a 75.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,304 shares of company stock worth $1,749,493. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.