PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 2.3% – Should You Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price rose 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $57.55 and last traded at $57.15. Approximately 14,470,772 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 15,842,984 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.89.

More PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal agreed to acquire Cymbio to accelerate agentic commerce and multichannel AI-driven selling for merchants — a clear strategic move to deepen merchant-facing AI capabilities. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage and trade reaction note the Cymbio deal and related AI-commerce angle as a growth catalyst that could help monetize AI shopping integrations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is reported to have partnered with OpenAI and applied to become a bank — moves that, if approved and executed well, expand product reach (AI experiences and deposit/credit capability). Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is elevated (Zacks highlights PYPL among most-searched stocks), which can amplify moves in either direction as news flow continues. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces note PayPal’s stablecoin and broader strategy could allow survival without dominance in every area—useful context but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Sell rating and $51 price target, arguing AI and agentic commerce efforts won’t fully offset structural headwinds — a direct bearish analyst signal. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Opinion/downgrade pieces question whether PayPal can recover its former growth trajectory, framing the stock as potentially a value trap despite low valuation metrics. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and price-action stories note PYPL has lost key support levels and has declined sharply over the past year — fueling momentum selling and caution among investors. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PYPL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho reduced their price target on PayPal from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a “negative” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.84.

PayPal Trading Down 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.19.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.14. PayPal had a net margin of 14.96% and a return on equity of 25.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. PayPal has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.270-1.310 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.390 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.22%.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other PayPal news, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.97, for a total transaction of $264,706.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,171,731.33. This trade represents a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total transaction of $615,303.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,366,486.71. This trade represents a 20.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,156 shares of company stock worth $2,432,524. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in PayPal by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 9,157 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 8.7% in the second quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 1,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.5% during the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning lifted its position in PayPal by 2.5% during the second quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 6,295 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 2.9% during the third quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

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.