PayPal’s (PYPL) Hold Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their hold rating on shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on PYPL. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on PayPal from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Clear Str raised PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.94.

PayPal Price Performance

PayPal stock opened at $56.95 on Tuesday. PayPal has a 12-month low of $38.46 and a 12-month high of $70.77. The stock has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.14. PayPal had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The company had revenue of $8.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. PayPal’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total transaction of $253,715.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,723.68. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total transaction of $30,249.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,520. This represents a 18.70% 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 12,705 shares of company stock worth $727,886 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,236,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of PayPal by 67.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,158,554,000 after purchasing an additional 10,356,256 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 227.6% in the 1st 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. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at $422,092,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,179,771 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $415,192,000 after purchasing an additional 376,530 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.45 exceeded the $1.31 analyst consensus, while transaction revenue increased 3% and total payment volume rose 6% year over year. Management also raised its 2026 earnings outlook and transaction-margin-dollar guidance to $15.7 billion. PayPal Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Growth and 2027 Investments
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to see potential value in PYPL’s low valuation, strong free cash flow, expense controls and possible share repurchases. Venmo, Pay Later and financial-services products are cited as early signs of progress in the turnaround. Is PayPal Stock a Value or a Value Trap?
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is benefiting from a stronger payments-sector backdrop after Mastercard reported revenue and EPS above expectations, prompting gains across major payment networks. Mastercard Rises on Revenue and EPS Beat
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains divided. Needham, BTIG, Bernstein, UBS and Canaccord maintain Hold or Neutral ratings, while some firms modestly raised targets after the earnings report. PayPal also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share.
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgraded PayPal to Underweight and cut its price target to $53, citing slowing core checkout growth, secular pressure on the branded button and reduced takeover potential. Citi likewise lowered its target to $58 and retained a Neutral rating. Barclays Lowers PayPal Stock to Underweight
• Negative Sentiment: PayPal’s quarterly revenue of $8.58 billion missed the $8.71 billion consensus, value-added-services growth remained weak, and management expects continued investment in 2027 before operating leverage improves.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and businesses to send, receive, and manage money online and through mobile devices. Its services support online checkout, peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, payment processing, invoicing, and other commerce-related transactions.

The company’s portfolio includes the PayPal and Venmo brands, Braintree’s payment processing technology, and Xoom’s international money transfer service. PayPal also offers merchant tools, digital wallets, payment solutions, and consumer financing products through its platform and related services.

PayPal traces its origins to 1998 and became an independent publicly traded company after separating from eBay in 2015.