California Public Employees Retirement System Has $82.80 Million Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,830,620 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,752 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.20% of PayPal worth $82,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in PayPal by 15,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,443.56. The trade was a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623 over the last ninety days. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $56.56 on Monday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.60 and a 200-day moving average of $47.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $49.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.33.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.51%.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The reported takeover interest from Stripe and Advent has fueled speculation that PayPal could be worth more than the current offer, with several analysts and investors arguing the bid is too low. Reuters: PayPal board sees Stripe-Advent offer as inadequate, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests the bid could force a higher valuation for PYPL, potentially supporting further upside if negotiations continue or a competing offer emerges. Yahoo Finance: Cantor sees potential for higher PayPal offer as analysis suggests $70/share value
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal’s board has reportedly not formally responded yet, so the deal is still early-stage and subject to negotiation, financing, and regulatory risk. Yahoo Finance weekly review
• Negative Sentiment: The board is said to view the $53 billion proposal as inadequate, which could mean a longer path to any deal or no deal at all if a higher price does not materialize. PYMNTS: PayPal Board Calls $53 Billion Stripe-Advent Bid Inadequate

Analyst Ratings Changes

PYPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on PayPal from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.61.

PayPal 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.