Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Sells 1,204,905 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership decreased its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 10.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,787,126 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,204,905 shares during the period. PayPal comprises 1.0% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 1.15% of PayPal worth $723,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PYPL. MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 100.4% in the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 385 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 87,524 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 285.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 524 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Dagco Inc. increased its stake in PayPal by 1,250.0% in the third quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, EVP Frank Keller sold 3,478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.20, for a total transaction of $139,815.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,072,993.40. This represents a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,285,484.67. This represents a 54.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 42,304 shares of company stock worth $1,749,493 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 target price (down from $93.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. President Capital dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $91.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.03.

PayPal Trading Down 3.8%

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $45.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.85 and its 200 day moving average is $61.57. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.50. 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 company has a market cap of $41.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.43.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its 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). PayPal had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The business had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.35%.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Preliminary takeover chatter (Stripe reportedly considering buying some or all of PayPal) triggered a surge, a trading halt and heavy volume — that event put a near-term bid under the stock and attracted options/call buying. Stripe weighs acquisition of PayPal (Proactive)
• Positive Sentiment: Follow-through market action: outsized call-option flow and elevated trading volume signaled institutional/speculative buyers betting on either a deal or continued re-rating, increasing short-term upside optionality. M&A News: PayPal Stock Soars (TipRanks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic/valuation analysis: several deep-dive pieces argue PayPal is materially undervalued on cash flow and asset value, outlining scenarios (sale, breakup, turnaround) that could justify higher prices — useful context but not an immediate catalyst without deal confirmation. PayPal’s Brutal Reset Hides A Cash Machine (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry/operational coverage (FT): in‑depth pieces examine structural problems and the need for reinvention — informs long-term thesis but does not change near‑term outcome absent corporate action. What went wrong at PayPal (Financial Times)
• Negative Sentiment: Follow-up reporting cooled the buyout narrative: several outlets and PayPal-adjacent reporting said the company is not in active sale talks, which removed the immediate M&A bid and helped push shares lower. PayPal might not be looking to sell itself (TechCrunch)
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and disclosure pressure: multiple law firms and investor‑rights groups have filed/class‑action notices and launched investigations into PayPal’s disclosures and key metrics — these increase litigation risk, potential settlement costs, and investor uncertainty. Bragar Eagel & Squire reminder of class actions (GlobeNewswire)
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings/guidance and analyst pressure: recent Q4 results missed some estimates and management gave cautious 2026 guidance; analysts have been cautious (including a recent sell/negative view), which keeps downward pressure until execution improves. PYPL Falls Despite Earnings Growth (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/market structure risks: a disclosure probe and rising short interest magnify volatility and downside risk if no deal materializes or guidance disappoints. Investigation into metrics/disclosures (PR Newswire)

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.