Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Reduces Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd trimmed its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 84.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,382 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 29,721 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in PayPal were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at $2,043,000. Step Capital Management Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at $6,130,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,608,600 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $117,987,000 after buying an additional 121,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PayPal by 705.2% in the 4th quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 100,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,876,000 after buying an additional 88,151 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,325,762.57. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total value of $196,194.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,260.18. This trade represents a 9.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623 in the last quarter. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $56.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $49.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $45.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.02.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.51%.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: One analysis argues that PayPal still looks inexpensive on a standalone basis, suggesting the stock could remain attractive even if Stripe does not pursue another offer. PayPal Acquisition Rumors: Is the Stock Still a Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal’s earnings report is the immediate catalyst. Investors will assess payment-volume growth, revenue, profitability, guidance, and whether management addresses the Stripe proposal. Prediction-market commentary indicates that deal-related language could have an outsized effect on the shares relative to the quarterly figures. PayPal Prediction Market Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and prediction-market participants are focused on whether PayPal can beat expectations in the second quarter, with results scheduled before the market open. A strong report could reinforce the standalone valuation case, while a miss would increase pressure for strategic action. Polymarket Earnings Odds
• Negative Sentiment: Pre-earnings estimates point to lower margins despite higher payment volume. That could make the quarter’s headline growth less compelling and heighten the importance of any update on the Stripe bid or other strategic alternatives. PayPal Q2 Earnings Margin Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: With the takeover proposal reportedly rejected, investors face uncertainty over whether negotiations could resume. Failure to secure a deal or provide a meaningful strategic update may leave the stock dependent on improving margins and execution. PayPal Stock in Focus as Wall Street Eyes Response to Stripe Bid

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on PayPal from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. HSBC started coverage on PayPal in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.96.

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.