PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Sold by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lowered its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 96,420 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 18,388 shares during the quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in PayPal were worth $5,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PayPal by 6.5% during 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of PayPal by 35.9% in 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. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth $97,794,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,131,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $746,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,365 shares during the period. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at $51,680,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $45.37 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50. The company has a market capitalization of $40.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.75 and a 200-day moving average of $53.99.

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

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is 10.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PYPL. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore cut their price objective on PayPal from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $52.00 target price on PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.42.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total value of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,687.32. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,199 shares of company stock valued at $4,294,018. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still see value in the stock, with RBC and Daiwa assigning upbeat ratings, and commentary arguing PayPal may be cheap enough that expectations are already low.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings showed a beat on both EPS and revenue, suggesting the core business is still growing and executing better than expected.
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Hold rating, reflecting a wait-and-see stance rather than a strong bullish or bearish call.
• Negative Sentiment: Macquarie downgraded PayPal to Neutral and cut its price target, citing a softer second-quarter outlook and a cost-saving plan that appears back-end loaded. Macquarie Downgrades PayPal as Cost-Saving Plan Looks Too Back-End Loaded
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America also lowered its price target and kept a Neutral rating, adding to the cautious analyst tone around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority launched a competition probe into PayPal’s wallet funding and usage practices, raising regulatory uncertainty in an important international market. FCA Probe Tests PayPal’s UK Wallet Economics And Growth Narrative
• Negative Sentiment: Several recent articles argue that the market was not impressed by PayPal’s earnings beat, with investors focusing instead on slower growth expectations, competitive pressures, and margin concerns.

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.