PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 1.1% – Here’s Why

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price traded down 1.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $50.76 and last traded at $50.88. 13,453,832 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 22,147,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.46.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partnership: PayPal was named the NFL’s official peer-to-peer (P2P) payments partner, which embeds PayPal into fan experiences and person-to-person flows inside the PayPal app — a potential boost to engagement, Venmo/P2P volume and brand exposure. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Bank of America raised its PYPL price target from $48 to $55 and kept a neutral rating, implying some upside from current levels and signaling confidence that valuation could re-rate if execution improves. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Contrarian buy signal: Noted investor Michael Burry reportedly opened a new position in PayPal, describing the multi-year selloff as more technical than fundamental — a vote of confidence that can attract value-oriented investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Longer-term recovery thesis: Several market roundups and value-stock lists name PayPal among recovery candidates, reflecting a view that its fundamentals and cash flow could improve over time if competition and execution risks ease. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade on competitive risk: Mizuho cut PYPL from Outperform to Neutral and trimmed its price target to $50, highlighting the competitive threat from Musk’s X Money and pointing to substitution risk for Venmo/P2P and other headwinds — an immediate downward catalyst for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: Multiple firms are publicizing and filing securities-class-action suits and lead-plaintiff deadlines tied to PYPL disclosures; ongoing litigation increases legal expense risk, management distraction and creates uncertainty for investors. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $42.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $52.00 price target on PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.12.

PayPal Stock Down 1.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.40.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is 10.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total transaction of $1,560,563.37. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,285,484.67. This represents a 54.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535 over the last quarter. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 35.8% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 3,679 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at $4,858,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 62.7% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 288,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $14,311,000 after purchasing an additional 111,243 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 46,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new position in PayPal in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.