M Holdings Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 38,467 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,246,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 8,700.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter worth about $38,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal announced a new embedded payments partnership with Shopware, launching Shopware Payments and expanding PayPal checkout options for merchants. This could help broaden PayPal’s reach across ecommerce platforms and support future payment volume growth. Shopware Payments Deepens PayPal’s Embedded Reach As Valuation Gap Widens
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal also highlighted consumer spending research showing 44% of Canadian shoppers would cut everyday expenses to fund summer soccer-related spending, reinforcing its visibility into spending behavior and potentially supporting payment activity around major events. Goal vs. Going Out: New PayPal Poll shows 44% of Canadians surveyed would sideline everyday spending for summer soccer
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary indicated PayPal continues to be viewed as a “Hold”, suggesting investors remain cautious and are waiting for clearer evidence of sustained growth or margin improvement. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage noted PayPal’s stock has been declining more than the broader market, reflecting ongoing investor concern despite the company’s solid earnings history and low valuation. Paypal (PYPL) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Another article argued PayPal may be shifting from a growth story to a deep-value play, which can signal that the market still doubts a near-term reacceleration in growth. PayPal: Goodbye Growth, Hello Deep Value

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of PayPal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.85.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total value of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,687.32. This trade represents a 20.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,443.56. This trade represents a 45.74% 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 a total of 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623 in the last quarter. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PayPal Stock Down 1.8%

PYPL stock opened at $40.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.12.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.51%.

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.