PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Mizuho

Mizuho restated their neutral rating on shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Mizuho currently has a $50.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $60.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on PayPal from $90.00 to $63.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Compass Point upgraded PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. KGI Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.61.

PayPal Price Performance

PayPal stock opened at $49.81 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.05. PayPal has a one year low of $38.46 and a one year high of $79.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $44.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.40.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. PayPal’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.35%.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $621,960.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,837.66. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. National Pension Service boosted its position in PayPal by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,855,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $191,516,000 after acquiring an additional 51,268 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 22,139 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings 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 valued at $291,338,000 after purchasing an additional 313,180 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,210,000. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd raised its holdings in PayPal by 347.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 193,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,949,000 after acquiring an additional 149,898 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / momentum helped lift the shares as some firms increased ratings or reiterated interest, prompting short-term buying. TipRanks: Why is PayPal (PYPL) Stock Up Today
• Positive Sentiment: Product/transaction growth signal: Venmo expanded its Stash cash-back rewards (up to 5% with new brand partners), which investors view as a credible effort to drive daily spend, engagement and TPV growth. PYMNTS: Venmo Expands Stash Cash-Back Rewards Program
• Positive Sentiment: Bargain-hunting and takeover chatter have supported the bounce — some writeups note acquisition speculation and renewed buyer interest after prior weakness. Invezz: PayPal stock has woken up suddenly
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed: some models show only marginal fair-value movement while price targets vary in the low‑$40s to $50s range, reflecting divergent assumptions on execution and competition. Yahoo Finance: How The Story Around PayPal (PYPL) Is Shifting
• Negative Sentiment: Mizuho downgraded PayPal to Neutral and cut its price target to $50 (from $60), explicitly citing X (Elon Musk’s “X Money”) as a direct threat to Venmo and PayPal’s wallet/peer‑to‑peer franchise — a tangible competitive risk for growth and margins. Blockonomi: PayPal (PYPL) Stock Faces Mizuho Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: multiple securities‑class actions and law‑firm notices (Pomerantz, Rosen, Faruqi, others) surfaced this week, reminding investors of April 20 lead‑plaintiff deadlines and alleging disclosures tied to PayPal’s outlook and branded‑checkout performance — adds headline risk and potential liability. GlobeNewswire: Rosen Law Firm investor notice
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing management/strategy uncertainty and the withdrawal of prior long‑term targets have amplified execution risk concerns cited by analysts and activist/litigation parties. Yahoo Finance: PayPal Lawsuits And CEO Change Raise Questions

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.