Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 27,341 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 5.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 457,558 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 27,341 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in PayPal were worth $24,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in PayPal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in PayPal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in PayPal by 448.3% in the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Latest PayPal News

These are some of the PYPL news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest offered a bullish signal: David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital added to PayPal, and Michael Burry also increased his position. One report noted PayPal had gained 36% since June 30 and still traded at about 10 times forward earnings, below its five-year average. Article: David Einhorn’s Best Buy Is Already Up 36%. Is It Too Late to Follow Him? Article: Michael Burry Re-Enters LULU On Weakness, Boosts Positions in PayPal and Other Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target to $60 from $55, though it maintained a “market perform” rating, suggesting only limited upside at the then-current share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Germany’s antitrust authority said PayPal’s restrictions on merchants’ ability to add surcharges for payment methods may limit competition. Regulatory action could create legal or compliance costs and constrain PayPal’s merchant policies. Article: PayPal in German Regulator’s Crosshairs Over Merchant Restrictions on Payment Fees

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of PayPal from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Freedom Broker downgraded PayPal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Argus set a $70.00 price target on PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total transaction of $40,530.84. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,301,564.79. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $188,277.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,726,372.76. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 13,437 shares of company stock valued at $768,417 over the last three months. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock opened at $59.48 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.46 and a 12-month high of $67.99.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $8.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given 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, December 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.69%.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates a global digital payments platform that helps consumers and businesses send and receive payments online and in person. Its services include PayPal checkout and digital wallets, Venmo peer-to-peer payments, Braintree payment processing for merchants, and Xoom international money transfers. The company traces its roots to Confinity, founded in 1998, and the online payments business that developed through its merger with X.com. PayPal became part of eBay in 2002 and was spun off as an independent public company in 2015.