PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Up 1.5% on Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price traded up 1.5% on Friday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $39.00 to $45.00. Truist Financial currently has a sell rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $50.59 and last traded at $50.48. 8,215,639 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 21,660,725 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.75.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PYPL. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on PayPal from $90.00 to $63.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $67.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.55.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the sale, 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. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,560,563.37. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,285,484.67. The trade was a 54.83% 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 worth $3,831,535 over the last quarter. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record PYUSD adoption and merchant crypto tools — PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin supply reportedly hit ~$4.3B and the firm is expanding Bitcoin payment options for U.S. merchants, a combination investors see as a new revenue avenue beyond core payments. Quiver Quantitative: PYPL Opinions on PayPal Beyond Event
• Positive Sentiment: New ad product could boost monetization — PayPal launched “Curated Ads” for connected TV and the open web to directly measure whether TV ads drive sales, expanding its growing advertising business and giving merchants measurable ROI. TipRanks: Curated Ads for CTV
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support tied to partnerships — Bank of America boosting its target (reported after the NFL deal) and other firms nudging targets higher reflect optimism that recent deals and product launches can drive revenue recovery. CoinCentral: BofA raises target to $55
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst coverage and valuations — several recent write-ups compare PYPL to peers (e.g., MA) and debate value vs. growth merits; median analyst target sits near $52, underscoring a split view. Yahoo Finance: PYPL vs MA valuation piece
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO initiates coverage at Market Perform — another large shop taking a neutral stance, which can temper upside expectations until clearer execution. MSN: BMO initiates coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy insider selling — Quiver Quant notes 23 insider open-market trades in the past six months, all sales and no buys, which investors often view as a red flag on near-term insider conviction. Quiver Quantitative: Insider trading summary
• Negative Sentiment: Large institutional reductions — multiple big managers (notably UBS AM and ClearBridge) trimmed positions materially in recent quarters, signaling continued portfolio rotation away from PYPL for some funds. Quiver Quantitative: Institutional holding changes
• Negative Sentiment: Contradictory analyst moves — Truist raised its target to $45 but retained a Sell rating (implying downside vs. some current levels), highlighting divergent views that can keep the stock volatile. Benzinga/The Fly: Truist target update

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of PayPal by 15,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $45.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.40. 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 fifty day moving average of $45.91 and a 200 day moving average of $55.30.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.