Gradient Investments LLC Has $21.57 Million Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 369,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,437 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $21,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 209,652 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,608,000 after purchasing an additional 36,569 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 131,773 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,813,000 after buying an additional 5,040 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 4,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 2,367 shares during the period. Green Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 13,569 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 26,261 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,469 shares during the period. 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: Analysts and commentators note recent price weakness has created a potential valuation entry for some investors — a short‑term rebound/momentum case is being discussed. Assessing Whether PayPal (PYPL) Looks Undervalued
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro note — PayPal executives and peers are discussing the K‑shaped economy (uneven consumer strength) which could mean mixed transactional volumes: pockets of resilience but pressure on lower‑income cohorts. This is context for payments growth but not an immediate catalyst. Visa, PayPal execs react to K-shaped economy
• Negative Sentiment: Hagens Berman and other firms say a securities class action has been filed after the surprise CEO ouster and withdrawal of long‑term targets; allegations focus on misleading statements about Branded Checkout growth and readiness for enterprise salesforce integration — this increases litigation risk and governance uncertainty. PYPL SHAREHOLDER NOTICE: Hagens Berman Alerts PayPal
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple plaintiff law firms (Faruqi & Faruqi, Rosen, Bernstein, Pomerantz, Bragar Eagel & Squire, etc.) are actively soliciting lead‑plaintiff motions with an April 20 deadline — widespread filings and publicity amplify settlement/defense costs and investor uncertainty. Representative reminder: Faruqi & Faruqi. PYPL INVESTOR NOTICE: Faruqi & Faruqi
• Negative Sentiment: Media analysis ties the lawsuit and CEO exit to a widening valuation gap and renewed questions about PayPal’s disclosures and segment performance (Branded Checkout), keeping downward pressure on sentiment. PayPal Lawsuit And CEO Exit Put Valuation Gap In Sharper Focus
• Negative Sentiment: Derivative/income funds that write calls on PYPL (e.g., YieldMax’s PYPY) are benefiting from and highlighting downside in the underlying — a sign that structured products are positioning for continued weakness. YieldMax’s PYPY Riding On The Way Down With PayPal

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PYPL. Compass Point upgraded shares of PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on PayPal from $70.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup dropped their price target on PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price target on PayPal from $61.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on PayPal from $64.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.03.

PayPal Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $44.01 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $40.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.53 and a 200-day moving average of $58.80. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50.

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

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,285,484.67. This represents a 54.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.