Centaurus Financial Inc. Decreases Stock Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Centaurus Financial Inc. trimmed its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 41.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 27,205 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Harbor Capital LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the 1st quarter worth $660,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. IFS Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the first quarter valued at about $336,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 273.2% during the first quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,804 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 18,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of PayPal by 28.1% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 25,884 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 5,671 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $57.65 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.02. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.21. The firm has a market cap of $50.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $77,679.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,749.60. The trade was a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $196,194.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,768,260.18. The trade was a 9.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 10,612 shares of company stock worth $484,534 over the last ninety days. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal reported second-quarter revenue of $8.68 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.38, exceeding estimates of $8.47 billion and $1.28, respectively. Management also raised its full-year profit outlook, citing improving branded checkout, Venmo growth and cost savings. PayPal’s Q2 Earnings Call Focuses on Checkout Stability
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts lifted their price targets following the results, including JPMorgan to $65, Mizuho to $60, Citi to $61 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to $70, with KBW upgrading the shares to outperform. Analysts Boost PayPal Forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is joining Binance’s bStocks initiative, potentially expanding access to tokenized equities for crypto users and creating additional payment or financial-services opportunities. PayPal Joins Binance bStocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports say Stripe and Advent International recently offered about $60.50 per share for PayPal. The board reportedly viewed the bid as too low, while CEO discussions indicated openness to potential deals but continued preference for an independent recovery. The speculation may provide valuation support but also highlights strategic uncertainty. PayPal CEO Signals Deal Openness
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, payable September 25 to shareholders of record September 4, offering an annualized yield of roughly 1%.
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided: Wells Fargo, TD Cowen, Baird, Canaccord and Wolfe Research retained neutral or hold ratings, while Goldman Sachs reportedly warned that stronger results have not resolved PayPal’s core branded-checkout and competitive-positioning challenges. Wall Street Divided on PayPal
• Negative Sentiment: Two insiders sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans: Frank Keller sold 732 shares and Chief Accounting Officer Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares. Because the transactions were scheduled in advance, they are a limited—but still potentially negative—signal.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial upgraded PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America cut their target price on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus set a $70.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group downgraded shares of PayPal to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.50.

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.