PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Down 1% – What’s Next?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price was down 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $57.91 and last traded at $57.93. Approximately 8,418,803 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 19,331,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.54.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal continues to screen as a value opportunity after its substantial multiyear decline. Analysts point to relatively attractive valuation metrics, earnings performance above consensus, and ongoing cost-efficiency and turnaround efforts as potential catalysts. Here’s Why PayPal Is a Strong Value Stock
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal was highlighted in a payments-industry outlook alongside Visa, Mastercard, Fidelity and WEX, keeping attention on the company’s potential relative value and competitive position. Zacks Industry Outlook: Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Fidelity and WEX
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade provided additional support for PayPal’s investment case, reinforcing the view that the shares may be undervalued following their long-term decline. PayPal Trading Up After Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Activist investor Carl Icahn is urging eBay to overhaul its board and spin off PayPal, citing governance concerns and potential conflicts. A separation could increase PayPal’s strategic independence, but the proposal remains uncertain and primarily targets eBay. What Does eBay Face After Carl Icahn Demands a Board Overhaul?
• Negative Sentiment: PayPal’s shares remain below the $60.50 bid previously rejected by its board, signaling that investors are skeptical a transaction will materialize or that the company can justify a higher valuation without further operational proof. PayPal Still Trades Below the $60.50 Bid Its Board Turned Down
• Negative Sentiment: Although PayPal appears inexpensive on earnings, analysts also flag weaker growth, leaving investors dependent on successful execution of the turnaround and cost-cutting plans. PayPal Stock Looks Undervalued on Earnings but Weaker on Growth

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PYPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.72.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.07. The company has a market cap of $50.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.30.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.59%.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,749.60. The trade was a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 10,612 shares of company stock valued at $484,534 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 15,233.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% 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.