Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 9,114 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,547 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,114 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in PayPal were worth $3,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in PayPal by 431.6% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,658 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158 shares during the last quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH increased its position in shares of PayPal by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH now owns 10,042 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940 shares during the last quarter. NFSG Corp increased its position in shares of PayPal by 962.3% during the 1st quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 2,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,260 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,893 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The reported takeover interest from Stripe and Advent has fueled speculation that PayPal could be worth more than the current offer, with several analysts and investors arguing the bid is too low. Reuters: PayPal board sees Stripe-Advent offer as inadequate, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests the bid could force a higher valuation for PYPL, potentially supporting further upside if negotiations continue or a competing offer emerges. Yahoo Finance: Cantor sees potential for higher PayPal offer as analysis suggests $70/share value
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal’s board has reportedly not formally responded yet, so the deal is still early-stage and subject to negotiation, financing, and regulatory risk. Yahoo Finance weekly review
• Negative Sentiment: The board is said to view the $53 billion proposal as inadequate, which could mean a longer path to any deal or no deal at all if a higher price does not materialize. PYMNTS: PayPal Board Calls $53 Billion Stripe-Advent Bid Inadequate

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock opened at $56.56 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $49.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $44.60 and its 200 day moving average is $47.23.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on PayPal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,443.56. This trade represents a 45.74% decrease in their position. The sale 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, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% 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 three months, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623. Insiders own 0.63% 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.