Hilltop Holdings Inc. Lowers Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Hilltop Holdings Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 44.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,511 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,399 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in PayPal by 15,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value 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. The trade was a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total transaction of $536,170.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,076,687.32. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $56.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $49.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.02. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.51%.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of PayPal from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.96.

PayPal Company 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.