Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 61,120 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 168,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 61,120 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in PayPal were worth $7,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,043,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth about $97,372,000. S&CO Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth about $18,827,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in PayPal by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,608,600 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $117,987,000 after purchasing an additional 121,400 shares during the period. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PayPal by 705.2% in the 4th quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 100,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,876,000 after purchasing an additional 88,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,749.60. This trade represents a 37.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total transaction of $253,715.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,723.68. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,231 shares of company stock valued at $373,924. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on PayPal from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $50.00 price objective on PayPal in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.03.

PayPal Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $52.40 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.83 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.29. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.59%.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital initiated or reiterated a Buy rating on PayPal, supporting the view that the company’s depressed valuation and cash-generation potential could provide upside as it executes independently. PayPal Holdings Gets a Buy from RBC Capital
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is cutting jobs as part of a restructuring plan announced in May. The reductions could lower expenses and improve operating efficiency, though investors will watch for evidence that cost savings can offset slower growth. PayPal Makes Job Cuts
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s latest reported quarter showed revenue growth of roughly 4.8% and earnings above consensus estimates. Analysts and commentators also point to opportunities to expand beyond checkout and create new monetization channels. Intuit or PayPal: Which Fintech Is Built for Future Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: A Truist analyst maintained a Hold view, reflecting a more cautious stance on PayPal’s growth outlook and valuation. PayPal Receives a Hold from Truist Financial
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal’s fraud-prevention platform is cited as a major application powered by Aerospike, but the announcement concerns Aerospike’s leadership and is not a material new contract or financial update for PayPal. Aerospike Names Don Dama Chief Executive Officer
• Negative Sentiment: Reports say Stripe and Advent abandoned takeover discussions after PayPal’s second-quarter results. The breakdown removes a possible acquisition premium and shifts investor attention back to PayPal’s standalone growth challenges. Why the PayPal Takeover Fell Apart
• Negative Sentiment: Mizuho and Truist reduced their price targets as buyout hopes collapsed. Truist suggested the failed bid could potentially be a negotiating tactic to lower the purchase price, but that remains speculative and does not restore the near-term deal catalyst. PayPal Gets Multiple Target Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Elon Musk’s X Money is positioning itself around social commerce, creators and payments, adding to concerns about intensifying competition from integrated fintech platforms. X Money Takes Aim at Something Bigger Than PayPal

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.