PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares were down 1.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $44.00 and last traded at $44.63. Approximately 14,403,058 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 23,975,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.23.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal announced a $400M push to revive branded checkout and restore growth — management is prioritizing product investment and monetization to regain merchant traction, which could help revenue and GMV if successful. PayPal (PYPL) Invests $400M to Revive Checkout Growth
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is among firms racing to embed stablecoins into cross‑border flows — this could open lower‑cost rails and new revenue streams if regulatory headwinds are navigated. Progress here supports long‑term growth optionality beyond core checkout. Stablecoins roll on as rules evolve
• Neutral Sentiment: Loop Capital initiated coverage with a Hold and a $46 target, highlighting execution risk and margin pressure — that keeps analyst sentiment cautious and sets a near‑term reference price for investors. Loop Capital initiates coverage of PayPal Holdings (PYPL) with hold recommendation
• Negative Sentiment: Profile piece (LA Times) underscores a slowdown in branded checkout and rising competition from Apple/Google; with a new CEO in place, the story frames PayPal at a strategic inflection that increases near‑term execution risk and investor skepticism. PayPal transformed digital payments. Why the California fintech giant is now struggling
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities class actions have been filed after the surprise CEO change and withdrawal of long‑term targets; several firms are seeking lead plaintiffs and deadlines are imminent — this raises legal expense, distraction risk and potential settlements. Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP Announces Expanded Securities Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against PayPal Holdings, Inc. and Certain Executives
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/market notes highlight CEO exit, board changes, insider selling and a stretched valuation debate — these governance and sentiment issues are pressuring the stock multiple and increasing volatility. A Look At PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Valuation After CEO Exit Board Change And New Lawsuit

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PYPL. Dbs Bank upgraded PayPal to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on PayPal from $50.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research lowered PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.11.

PayPal Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $45.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $41.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.35%.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $621,960.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,837.66. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 143.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,089,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $297,130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998,286 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 1,066.0% during 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. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.