PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Down 2.9% – Here’s Why

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price fell 2.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $49.17 and last traded at $49.75. 11,526,198 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 21,831,029 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.22.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal locked up an official P2P payments partnership with the NFL, a high-visibility marketing and payments arrangement that traders see as a tangible growth/engagement catalyst. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $55 after the NFL deal, highlighting that the partnership materially improved BofA’s view of incremental monetization and engagement. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish write-ups and a summarized bullish thesis (William Fleming?Daniels) circulated this week, reinforcing a value/turnaround narrative given PayPal’s lower valuation metrics (trailing/forward P/E near single digits). Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform / Hold recommendation — a neutral stance that reduces immediate buy-side conviction despite the partnership news. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets flagged PYPL as a “trending” name, reflecting heavy retail and analyst attention but not a clear directional verdict. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculation about activist interest / acquisition-target narratives is driving intraday volatility — such stories can lift the stock on takeover hope but also signal governance/execution questions. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators remain cautious — Seeking Alpha published a “cautious hold / downgrade” view that highlights execution risk, past guidance misses, CEO turnover and shareholder litigation as downside drivers. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $63.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of PayPal from $58.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of PayPal from $70.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.39.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.48.

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

PayPal Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,373,113.34. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,285,484.67. This trade represents a 54.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 in the last three months. 0.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 15,233.3% during 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. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth $30,000. 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.