PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Down 1.5% – Time to Sell?

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $44.98 and last traded at $45.2730. 13,074,787 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 22,985,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.98.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal integrated Payment Links into Canva, opening checkout capabilities to ~265M monthly Canva users — a distribution boost for merchant volume and creator monetization that can expand PayPal’s addressable payments flow and revenue over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple outlets note heavy investor attention and ongoing analyst coverage on PYPL (some see upside but maintain “hold”), which can increase short-term trading volatility but doesn’t immediately change fundamentals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms and notices remind shareholders of active securities-class-action filings and upcoming lead-plaintiff deadlines; increased litigation risk raises potential costs, management distraction and investor uncertainty. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large investors and funds have trimmed or exited positions (reports of ClearBridge exiting and a high-profile dump by Steve Cohen), signaling concern about PayPal’s turnaround pace and potentially increasing selling pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane adjusted its price target modestly upward but kept a “neutral” rating with a PT below the current market level — a cautious signal that suggests limited near-term analyst-driven upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier earnings showed a modest revenue and EPS miss and slower growth trends versus prior years; lingering execution questions from that print remain part of the sell-side and investor calculus. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $42.00 price target (down from $100.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. HSBC downgraded PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho set a $60.00 price target on PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.72.

PayPal Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $40.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.72.

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

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $621,960.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,837.66. This trade represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,992.20. This represents a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 over the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth about $30,000. 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.