PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price was down 1.7% on Monday . The company traded as low as $44.96 and last traded at $46.16. Approximately 18,869,711 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 26,215,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.97.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard announced a large Crypto Partner Program that includes PayPal, positioning PYPL to deepen payments-crypto integrations and potentially boost crypto-related revenue and merchant offerings if adoption follows. Binance, Ripple, PayPal Join Mastercard’s 85+ Partner Crypto Initiative
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest fell ~19% in February (to ~41.8M shares), reducing reported bearish positioning and short-covering risk; separately, recent analyst/opinion pieces debate whether PYPL is a value opportunity or a “value trap” — these shape sentiment but not near-term fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities-class-action suits have been filed alleging PayPal misstated its revenue outlook and growth — lawsuits cite the Feb. 3, 2026 results and the abrupt CEO departure, framing a material adverse disclosure. This legal overhang is cited as a driver of the recent market-cap decline and investor caution. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Faces Securities Class Action Amid $9 Billion Market Cap Wipeout, CEO Departure — Hagens Berman
• Negative Sentiment: Additional firms (Kessler Topaz, Pomerantz, Rosen, Faruqi, Levi & Korsinsky, Schall, RGRD, Bernstein, etc.) are soliciting lead-plaintiff candidates and sending investor reminders ahead of an April 20, 2026 deadline — increasing legal and reputational risk and potential future financial exposure for PYPL and its executives. NASDAQ: PYPL: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Announces the Filing of a Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Against PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) LEVI & KORSINSKY, LLP: PYPL CEO AND CFO FACE PERSONAL LIABILTY IN SECURITIES ACTION

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PYPL. Zacks Research downgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.03.

PayPal Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is 10.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,992.20. This trade represents a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.