PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded up 5% during mid-day trading on Monday after BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on the stock from $41.00 to $43.50. BNP Paribas Exane currently has a neutral rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $47.88 and last traded at $47.51. 15,016,336 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 22,870,162 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.24.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $58.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. HSBC lowered shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.72.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,285,484.67. This trade represents a 54.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,992.20. The trade was a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broad fintech rally lifts PYPL as traders rotate into payments names, a key driver of today’s buying pressure. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product expansion: PayPal is adding Brazil’s Pix instant-payments option for SMB checkouts, expanding local payment acceptance in a large emerging market — a clear revenue/volume positive over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/target action: a price-target update was reported today (raise to $43.50), which can validate some investor buying despite mixed coverage. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor chatter and technicals: social and options flows show traders positioning for a breakout after a tight range; hedge funds/institutions show mixed positioning in filings. These signals increase volatility but are not definitive fundamentals. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/institutional tracking: coverage notes PayPal’s activity vs. Nasdaq futures trends and continued analyst divergence on price targets — keeps the stock in focus but leaves direction ambiguous. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: multiple law firms and complaint filings allege securities-law violations and solicit lead-plaintiff status for purchases between Feb. 2025 (or Feb. 2024 in some complaints) and Feb. 2, 2026 — April 20 is widely advertised as the lead-plaintiff deadline, increasing headline risk and potential litigation costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: recent filings show repeated insider sales (no recent insider purchases), which some investors interpret as a cautionary signal about near-term management conviction. Read More.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in PayPal by 2.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $949,758,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in PayPal by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $713,158,000 after buying an additional 1,083,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in PayPal by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,803,241 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $513,966,000 after buying an additional 625,705 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.28.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 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 analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.35%.

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.