Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Reduces Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 84.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 102,421 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PYPL. Lion Street Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $93,000. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in PayPal by 1,342.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 50,427 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,382,000 after purchasing an additional 46,930 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in PayPal by 14.2% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,221 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 3,140 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 128.5% in the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,024,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,712,000 after buying an additional 576,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.7% during the third quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 28,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC cut 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. Argus dropped their target price on PayPal from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. KGI Securities lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,213 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,357.96. The trade was a 75.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,285,484.67. This trade represents 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 42,304 shares of company stock worth $1,749,493 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Deep‑value / contrarian case: commentators note PYPL trades near IPO‑era levels with a single‑digit P/E and extremely oversold technicals, which could attract value buyers if execution stabilizes. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Selective bull views: some analysts and features highlight Venmo, BNPL and PSP growth, strong free cash flow and buybacks/dividend as upside levers if management can defend share and improve conversion. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed market narrative: coverage is split between value‑buyers and skeptics who see the post‑earnings sell‑off as confirmation of secular share loss; that debate is keeping volatility elevated. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Small partner integrations announced (merchant/partner deals) — headline noise for partners but limited near‑term impact on PayPal’s core metrics. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings miss, weak guidance and CEO change: Q4 EPS and revenue missed estimates and FY‑2026 guidance disappointed; the abrupt CEO transition amplified concerns and drove the initial sharp share decline. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Wave of securities‑fraud filings and investor alerts: multiple law firms have announced class actions covering a defined class period, creating legal overhang and potential expense/distraction for management. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and leadership turnover: sizable insider sales (including a large sale by Suzan Kereere and a CAO sale) shortly after the weak print raise governance/comfort concerns among some investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst cuts and competitive pressure: several firms trimmed estimates and targets citing branded‑checkout weakness and take‑rate pressure from competitors (Apple, Stripe), which reduces near‑term upside expectations. Read More.

PayPal Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $41.65 on Monday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $38.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.43.

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

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid 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 1.3%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.35%.

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.