PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 3.3% – Here’s Why

by · The Cerbat Gem

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL – Get Free Report) shares were up 3.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $49.76 and last traded at $49.57. Approximately 12,906,209 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 22,564,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.97.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on PayPal from $50.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $91.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $61.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Eight research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.72.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on PayPal

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). The company 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,992.20. This represents a 65.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,113.34. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PayPal by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in PayPal by 143.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,089,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $297,130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998,286 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in PayPal by 35.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,177,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $548,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 261.5% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,291,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $133,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

About PayPal

(Get Free Report)

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.

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