LB Partners LLC Invests $905,000 in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

LB Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $905,000. PayPal accounts for approximately 0.8% of LB Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,276,205,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 355.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,967,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $224,665,000 after acquiring an additional 3,875,688 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 143.4% in 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PYPL shares. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped 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. Zacks Research raised PayPal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.01.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was 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 directly owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,443.56. The trade was a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total value of $536,170.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,687.32. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler upgraded PayPal from “neutral” to “hold,” which suggests some analysts see limited downside and a more balanced risk/reward setup. The Fly report on Piper Sandler upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple recent writeups say PayPal looks cheap on valuation, with forward earnings multiples near the lowest levels in years, which could attract value-oriented investors if execution improves. TipRanks article
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary also points to PayPal’s cost-cutting and AI-focused restructuring as potential margin tailwinds over time, supporting the case that the stock may be undervalued. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several sector and comparison pieces this week, including articles on payment peers and fintech valuations, kept PayPal in focus but did not add a clear new catalyst for the stock. Motley Fool comparison
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal is also being discussed as part of broader adoption of AI commerce infrastructure, which could be a long-term positive but is not an immediate earnings driver. Fortune article on AI shopping
• Negative Sentiment: Investor caution remains high because recent reporting and analysis highlight slowing growth, softer outlooks for Venmo and branded checkout, and pressure on profitability. Quiver Quantitative report
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reportedly issued a “sell” rating, adding to the cautious analyst tone and reinforcing worries that estimates may still need to come down. The Globe and Mail report
• Negative Sentiment: Another recent market note said PayPal fell as the broader market gained, underscoring that investors are still skeptical about the turnaround story. Yahoo Finance market recap

PayPal Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $44.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.33. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.13. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The company had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.