Chou Associates Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 167,400 PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Chou Associates Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 167,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,000. PayPal comprises 3.3% of Chou Associates Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in PayPal by 15,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Venmo’s expansion into college tuition payments could increase transaction volume. PayPal and Venmo are now being integrated with Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet, allowing students and families at participating universities to pay tuition and fees through the digital wallets. The initiative adds a potentially recurring, higher-value use case, although transaction fees and adoption will vary by school. PayPal, Venmo connect to colleges
• Positive Sentiment: Agentic payments offer a longer-term growth narrative. PayPal is positioning its platform around AI-enabled commerce, digital identity and automated payments, potentially allowing software agents to complete transactions on behalf of consumers. The strategy could strengthen PayPal’s relevance as commerce evolves, but commercialization and competitive execution remain uncertain. PayPal Agentic Payments: Can They Reshape the Future of Commerce?
• Positive Sentiment: Technical momentum and investor interest remain supportive. PayPal has formed a bullish “golden cross,” while David Einhorn’s reported $61.5 million stake provides additional visibility and may reinforce the turnaround case. David Einhorn’s PayPal Bet Just Flashed a Golden Cross
• Neutral Sentiment: Takeover chatter is supporting the shares but remains unconfirmed. Reports have revived speculation about a potential sale process involving Stripe and Advent International. No offer or transaction has been announced, so any takeover premium is speculative. PayPal Stock Closes Higher Thursday
• Negative Sentiment: The recent rally has increased valuation and execution concerns. Investors are questioning whether PayPal can sustain momentum amid modest underlying revenue growth and intense competition in digital payments and buy-now-pay-later services. A director’s $253,716 sale under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan adds a mild cautionary signal, though it is not necessarily an indication of deteriorating business prospects. PayPal Insider Selling

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $61.55 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.51. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.21. The stock has a market cap of $52.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current 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 0.9%. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group set a $45.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $43.50 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $42,529.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,042.70. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $77,679.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,749.60. This 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 14,774 shares of company stock valued at $738,249 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

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.