PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 1.7% – Here’s What Happened

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) rose 1.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $62.73 and last traded at $62.30. 11,871,477 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 18,691,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.25.

More PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Takeover speculation supports the shares. Reports of a possible sale process involving Stripe and Advent International have revived expectations that PayPal could attract a strategic or private-equity bid. No offer has been announced, making this a speculative catalyst dependent on valuation, financing and regulatory approval. PayPal Takeover Offer Report
• Positive Sentiment: Tuition-payment integrations broaden PayPal’s transaction opportunities. PayPal and Venmo are now available through Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet at schools including Kansas State, Michigan State and Texas Tech. The initiative adds a recurring, high-value payment use case and could increase volume, although the near-term revenue contribution is unclear. PayPal and Venmo Tuition Integrations
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is holding up better than some buy-now, pay-later rivals. Klarna and Affirm declined while PayPal remained higher, suggesting investors may be favoring the scale, diversification and established customer base of larger payment companies. BNPL Stock Rotation Report
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale offers a modest cautionary signal. Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares worth approximately $253,716 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, while retaining 30,983 shares. The scheduled nature of the transaction limits its significance. PayPal Insider Sale Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Competition and valuation concerns remain risks. TikTok is reportedly developing peer-to-peer payments within direct messages, potentially challenging Venmo. Investor commentary also warned that PayPal and other fintech stocks may be priced for overly optimistic growth expectations. TikTok Peer-to-Peer Payments Report

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on PayPal from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $45.00 price objective on PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.28.

PayPal Trading Up 1.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.31 and its 200 day moving average is $47.35. The company has a market capitalization of $53.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.30.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total value of $253,715.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,723.68. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $42,529.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,042.70. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 14,774 shares of company stock valued at $738,249 over the last ninety days. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PayPal by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $2,043,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the second quarter valued at approximately $97,372,000. S&CO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the second quarter valued at approximately $18,827,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.9% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,608,600 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $117,987,000 after purchasing an additional 121,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.