Weiss Asset Management LP Buys 23,392 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Weiss Asset Management LP raised its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 80.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,380 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,392 shares during the quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in PayPal by 15,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in PayPal in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,443.56. The trade was a 45.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist Securities upgraded PayPal from Sell to Hold and raised its price target to $57 from $44, signaling improved confidence in the stock and helping sentiment around PYPL. Article: Benzinga report on Truist upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Stripe and Advent International have approached PayPal with a $53 billion takeover bid have fueled speculation that PYPL could be worth more in a deal, boosting investor interest. Article: Yahoo Finance takeover report
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in about an 8.8% swing around next week’s earnings, indicating elevated expectations and potential volatility rather than a clear directional view. Article: TipRanks earnings volatility report
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts say investors are focused on TPV growth, platform expansion, margins, and competition heading into earnings, with macro uncertainty still clouding the outlook. Article: Zacks preview
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal remains a low-valuation name by market standards, with investors noting its roughly 11x earnings multiple and ongoing share repurchases as support for long-term value. Article: 24/7 Wall St. valuation note

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Friday. Clear Str raised PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on PayPal from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PayPal in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.96.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $56.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $49.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.51%.

PayPal Company Profile

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.