PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Now Covered by Analysts at Loop Capital

Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $46.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PYPL. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research reissued a “sell” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on PayPal from $58.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.11.

PayPal Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $45.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. PayPal has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.50. The company has a market cap of $41.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.67.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were 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 was Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.35%.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total transaction of $1,560,563.37. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,992.20. This represents a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534,462 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 143.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,089,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $297,130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,286 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,177,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $548,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 1,066.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,106,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $156,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925,583 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded European merchant reach — PayPal deepened its Nexi partnership to embed PayPal wallet and checkout across Nexi’s merchant platform in Europe, which should help TPV and merchant distribution in that region. PayPal Nexi Tie Up Tests Growth Story As Shares Lag
• Positive Sentiment: Venmo international expansion and user growth remain a growth lever — company initiatives to scale Venmo’s commerce capabilities and expand into new markets support longer-term TPV and revenue potential. PayPal Expands Venmo: Will It Become a Global Commerce Engine?
• Neutral Sentiment: New coverage from Loop Capital (hold/neutral, $46 PT) brought attention and probably short-term flows, but the rating and small implied upside make this a limited catalyst. PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) Receives Neutral Rating From Loop Capital
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention pieces and analyst commentaries note both opportunity and near-term headwinds; these keep trading volatile but don’t present decisive directional news. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) is Attracting Investor Attention
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal overhang — a wave of securities class-action filings and investor-alerts (multiple firms) allege misstatements around growth targets, branded-checkout momentum and readiness; the litigation follows the surprise CEO ouster and withdrawal of long-term targets, and has been linked to a large market-cap decline. This is the largest immediate negative for valuation and sentiment. PYPL INVESTOR UPDATE: Hagens Berman Alerts PayPal (PYPL) Investors to Securities Class Action
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms are soliciting plaintiffs and reminding investors of April 20 lead-plaintiff deadlines, amplifying litigation risk and potential settlement overhang. ROSEN, SKILLED INVESTOR COUNSEL, Encourages PayPal Investors to Secure Counsel
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution and downgrade commentary highlight branded-checkout weakness and expected near-term earnings pressure; combined with high-profile media critiques (e.g., Jim Cramer comments), these amplify downside risk for investors focused on fundamentals and momentum. PayPal Undervalued, But Checkout Weakness Limits Upside

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.