PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Position Lifted by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 997.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 69,119 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,822 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $4,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Maia Wealth LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 2.5% in the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 2.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 0.3% during the third quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN now owns 56,934 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,818,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 0.7% during the third quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,043 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,679,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 6.2% during the third quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Up 1.3%

PayPal stock opened at $41.24 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.50. The stock has a market cap of $36.38 billion, a PE ratio of 7.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,762.57. The trade was a 9.83% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total transaction of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,687.32. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623 over the last three months. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal announced a new partnership with Shopware to power “Shopware Payments,” giving merchants embedded access to PayPal checkout, wallets, BNPL, and other payment options inside a growing e-commerce platform. The deal expands PayPal’s reach with online sellers and could add more transaction volume over time. Shopware Launches Shopware Payments in Partnership with PayPal
• Positive Sentiment: A separate report highlighted that the Shopware partnership deepens PayPal’s embedded payments footprint and could help narrow the company’s valuation gap if it can turn these integrations into sustained growth. Shopware Payments Deepens PayPal’s Embedded Reach As Valuation Gap Widens
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal also released new consumer survey data showing many Canadian shoppers are willing to cut other spending to attend summer soccer events, which is more of a brand-marketing item than a direct financial catalyst. Goal vs. Going Out: New PayPal Poll shows 44% of Canadians surveyed would sideline everyday spending for summer soccer
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts reportedly continue to rate PayPal as a “Hold,” suggesting sentiment remains cautious even as the stock rebounds from recent weakness. PayPal Holdings, Inc. Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage noted PayPal has been declining more than the broader market, reinforcing that investors still have concerns about growth and momentum despite the latest partnership news. Paypal (PYPL) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for 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.