Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at Citigroup from $60.00 to $42.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 2.08% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down from $93.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Compass Point upgraded PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.93.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock traded down $0.56 on Wednesday, reaching $41.15. The stock had a trading volume of 29,786,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,105,498. PayPal has a 12 month low of $39.96 and a 12 month high of $79.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $58.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.64% and a net margin of 14.96%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.84, for a total transaction of $249,054.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,022.72. This represents a 11.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total value of $615,303.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,699 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PayPal during the second quarter worth $921,570,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in PayPal by 35.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,177,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $548,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160,227 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 1,066.0% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,106,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $156,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $97,794,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board named HP’s Enrique Lores as incoming CEO (effective March 1); management change could bring operational discipline and a turnaround playbook if execution improves. Reuters: PayPal names Enrique Lores as CEO
• Positive Sentiment: Some bullish analysts still see long-term upside (e.g., Macquarie reaffirmed outperform with a $100 PT), leaving room for counter‑trend rallies if fundamentals stabilize. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Company announced a $0.14 quarterly dividend (modest yield) and management signaled capital returns (buybacks) as part of the response — supportive but not a near‑term growth fix.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst views remain: some firms maintain Holds/Neutral ratings while others push Sell/Underweight — expect continued dispersion in research reactions. TipRanks: analyst reactions
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results missed estimates — adjusted EPS $1.23 vs. consensus ~$1.29 and revenue $8.68B below expectations; company guided to lower 2026 profits, which triggered the initial selloff. MarketBeat: Q4 results & call materials
• Negative Sentiment: Surprise CEO shakeup and interim leadership raised execution and governance concerns; the market treated the move as a sign the board is unhappy with pace of change. WSJ: stock reaction to CEO change
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple price‑target cuts and downgrades (JPMorgan to $46 neutral; RBC, Susquehanna, Stephens and Morgan Stanley cuts) intensified selling pressure and reset expectations lower. Benzinga: JPMorgan PT cut MarketScreener: RBC
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / litigation risk: law firms have launched securities‑fraud investigations into the company’s disclosures around the leadership change and results, adding legal overhang. BusinessWire: securities fraud investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Negative publicity and insider/former‑executive criticism (former PayPal president’s comments) further weigh on investor confidence. Business Insider

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.