PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Cross Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.63 and traded as high as $56.63. PayPal shares last traded at $56.09, with a volume of 19,287,144 shares traded.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.45 exceeded the $1.31 analyst consensus, while transaction revenue increased 3% and total payment volume rose 6% year over year. Management also raised its 2026 earnings outlook and transaction-margin-dollar guidance to $15.7 billion. PayPal Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Growth and 2027 Investments
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to see potential value in PYPL’s low valuation, strong free cash flow, expense controls and possible share repurchases. Venmo, Pay Later and financial-services products are cited as early signs of progress in the turnaround. Is PayPal Stock a Value or a Value Trap?
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is benefiting from a stronger payments-sector backdrop after Mastercard reported revenue and EPS above expectations, prompting gains across major payment networks. Mastercard Rises on Revenue and EPS Beat
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains divided. Needham, BTIG, Bernstein, UBS and Canaccord maintain Hold or Neutral ratings, while some firms modestly raised targets after the earnings report. PayPal also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share.
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgraded PayPal to Underweight and cut its price target to $53, citing slowing core checkout growth, secular pressure on the branded button and reduced takeover potential. Citi likewise lowered its target to $58 and retained a Neutral rating. Barclays Lowers PayPal Stock to Underweight
• Negative Sentiment: PayPal’s quarterly revenue of $8.58 billion missed the $8.71 billion consensus, value-added-services growth remained weak, and management expects continued investment in 2027 before operating leverage improves.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PYPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on PayPal from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $51.00 price objective on PayPal in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.94.

PayPal Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $55.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.27.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.14. PayPal had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The firm had revenue of $8.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.43, for a total transaction of $255,643.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,304,058.81. The trade was a 9.99% 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, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total transaction of $253,715.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,723.68. This represents a 11.84% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,705 shares of company stock worth $727,886. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MBA Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 35.0% in the third quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 7,560 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 22.4% in the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 20,382 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,077,000 after buying an additional 3,730 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in PayPal by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 20,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,812,000. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,529 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and businesses to send, receive, and manage money online and through mobile devices. Its services support online checkout, peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, payment processing, invoicing, and other commerce-related transactions.

The company’s portfolio includes the PayPal and Venmo brands, Braintree’s payment processing technology, and Xoom’s international money transfer service. PayPal also offers merchant tools, digital wallets, payment solutions, and consumer financing products through its platform and related services.

PayPal traces its origins to 1998 and became an independent publicly traded company after separating from eBay in 2015.