United Asset Strategies Inc. Reduces Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

United Asset Strategies Inc. reduced its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 37.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,515 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 19,163 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $1,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 41.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 40.1% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 4,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 17.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,909 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PYPL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on PayPal from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on PayPal from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus set a $70.00 target price on PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, July 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Nine 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,260.18. The trade was a 9.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $77,679.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at $128,749.60. This trade represents a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Venmo growth supports the recovery story. Venmo’s total payment volume is growing at a mid-teens rate, giving PayPal an important source of transaction growth. Increasing adoption of products such as payments, credit and other monetization tools could help convert that activity into faster revenue growth. PayPal’s Venmo: Can Monetization Sustain Its Mid-Teens Growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings and operational improvements remain supportive. PayPal reported quarterly earnings of $1.38 per share, ahead of the $1.28 consensus estimate, while revenue of $8.68 billion also exceeded expectations. Commentary highlighting improvements under CEO Enrique Lores and PayPal’s strong July performance has reinforced the view that the company may be stabilizing after a difficult period. Jim Cramer Examines PayPal Holdings Performance Under Enrique Lores and M&A Speculation
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and M&A speculation are influencing sentiment. Analysts and commentators are debating whether PayPal remains undervalued following its recent share-price gains. Reported speculation about a potential buyout proposal has added an additional catalyst, but there is no confirmed transaction, making this a source of volatility rather than a firm fundamental driver. Is PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Undervalued After Earnings And Its Recent Share Price Jump?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about monetization and the sustainability of growth. Venmo’s strong payment-volume expansion will not necessarily produce comparable revenue growth unless PayPal can increase product usage and monetization. After the stock’s sharp recent advance, any evidence that revenue conversion or profitability is lagging expectations could limit further upside. PayPal’s Venmo: Can Monetization Sustain Its Mid-Teens Growth?

PayPal Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $59.20 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $49.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.15. 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 $50.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, 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 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.59%.

PayPal 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.