Empirical Asset Management LLC Takes $262,000 Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 15.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,501,936 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $224,001,000 after purchasing an additional 476,763 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PayPal by 2.8% during the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 154,991 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,519,000 after purchasing an additional 4,165 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the second quarter worth approximately $325,000. Allianz SE increased its position in shares of PayPal by 281.8% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 30,338 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 22,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the first quarter worth approximately $529,264,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $67.41 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.10. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.35% and a net margin of 14.49%.The business had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. PayPal has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.180-1.220 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 5.150-5.300 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PYPL. Wall Street Zen cut PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on PayPal from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on PayPal from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 7,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total value of $492,523.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.12, for a total value of $265,282.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,174,279.68. This trade represents a 18.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,102 shares of company stock valued at $1,046,607 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. It operates a two-sided network at scale that connects merchants and consumers that enables its customers to connect, transact, and send and receive payments through online and in person, as well as transfer and withdraw funds using various funding sources, such as bank accounts, PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products comprising its installment products, credit and debit cards, and cryptocurrencies, as well as other stored value products, including gift cards and eligible rewards.