Madison Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 144,800 PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 144,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,252,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,236,989,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $949,758,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 67.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,158,554,000 after acquiring an additional 10,356,256 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in PayPal by 227.6% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $624,364,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in PayPal during the second quarter worth $251,215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total value of $196,194.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,260.18. This trade represents a 9.99% 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 hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total value of $253,715.52. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,774 shares of company stock worth $738,249. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal and Venmo are expanding into higher-education tuition payments through integrations with Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet. The services are already available at schools including Michigan State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Butler and Bellarmine, potentially increasing transaction volume and everyday use of PayPal’s wallets. PayPal and Venmo Expand to Tuition Payments
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Stripe and Advent International have renewed interest in a potential PayPal transaction are supporting the shares by reinforcing takeover speculation. However, no deal has been announced, so this remains a potential catalyst rather than a confirmed development. PayPal Buyout Talks Resurface
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $59 while maintaining a Neutral rating, indicating greater recognition of potential value beyond PayPal’s checkout business. Piper Sandler Raises PayPal Price Target

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $61.25 on Thursday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.31 and its 200-day moving average is $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The business had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $50.00 price target on PayPal in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.28.

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.