PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Freedom Broker

Freedom Broker lowered shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

PYPL has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on PayPal from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on PayPal from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. HSBC assumed coverage on PayPal in a report on Friday, July 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised 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, October 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.94.

PayPal Trading Up 3.4%

PayPal stock opened at $60.20 on Tuesday. PayPal has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $68.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $50.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.07.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $8.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 13.78%. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. PayPal’s payout ratio is currently 10.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total transaction of $40,530.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,301,564.79. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 552 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total value of $30,249.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,520. This represents a 18.70% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 13,437 shares of company stock valued at $768,417 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,236,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 67.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,158,554,000 after acquiring an additional 10,356,256 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 227.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $624,364,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,488 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in PayPal during the second quarter worth $422,092,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in PayPal during the second quarter worth $20,758,000. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal shares moved higher alongside other fintech stocks as investors reacted to Block’s earnings beat and raised outlook. The article frames the move as sector-wide momentum rather than a PayPal-specific catalyst. Block Surges 16% on Earnings Beat and Raised Outlook; SoFi and PayPal Advance 4%
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal and Venmo expanded their payout partnership with LianLian Global, broadening access for creators, marketplaces and contractors across 96 markets. The added reach could support cross-border use of PayPal’s wallets. How Investors Are Reacting To PayPal (PYPL) LianLian Payout Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Payments software provider Justt introduced PayPal Alerts, which gives merchants pre-chargeback warnings. The feature may help merchants manage disputes, but it is a third-party product announcement, not a PayPal launch. Justt Launches ‘Flows,’ Its New Chargeback Automation Engine
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded PayPal to Hold from Buy and cut its price target to $63 from $72, citing a lack of reacceleration in branded checkout. This underscores concerns that PayPal’s core checkout business is struggling to regain momentum. Freedom Broker cuts PayPal to Hold as branded checkout stalls

PayPal Company Profile

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.