Rakuten Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 13,944 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in PayPal in the second quarter valued at about $3,236,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in PayPal by 67.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,158,554,000 after purchasing an additional 10,356,256 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $949,758,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in PayPal by 227.6% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $624,364,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,488 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Venmo’s expansion into college tuition payments could increase transaction volume. PayPal and Venmo are now being integrated with Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet, allowing students and families at participating universities to pay tuition and fees through the digital wallets. The initiative adds a potentially recurring, higher-value use case, although transaction fees and adoption will vary by school. PayPal, Venmo connect to colleges
• Positive Sentiment: Agentic payments offer a longer-term growth narrative. PayPal is positioning its platform around AI-enabled commerce, digital identity and automated payments, potentially allowing software agents to complete transactions on behalf of consumers. The strategy could strengthen PayPal’s relevance as commerce evolves, but commercialization and competitive execution remain uncertain. PayPal Agentic Payments: Can They Reshape the Future of Commerce?
• Positive Sentiment: Technical momentum and investor interest remain supportive. PayPal has formed a bullish “golden cross,” while David Einhorn’s reported $61.5 million stake provides additional visibility and may reinforce the turnaround case. David Einhorn’s PayPal Bet Just Flashed a Golden Cross
• Neutral Sentiment: Takeover chatter is supporting the shares but remains unconfirmed. Reports have revived speculation about a potential sale process involving Stripe and Advent International. No offer or transaction has been announced, so any takeover premium is speculative. PayPal Stock Closes Higher Thursday
• Negative Sentiment: The recent rally has increased valuation and execution concerns. Investors are questioning whether PayPal can sustain momentum amid modest underlying revenue growth and intense competition in digital payments and buy-now-pay-later services. A director’s $253,716 sale under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan adds a mild cautionary signal, though it is not necessarily an indication of deteriorating business prospects. PayPal Insider Selling

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PYPL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total transaction of $253,715.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,723.68. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total value of $196,194.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,768,260.18. This represents a 9.99% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,774 shares of company stock worth $738,249. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PayPal Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $61.55 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.13 and a 200-day moving average of $47.51. The company has a market capitalization of $52.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.21.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. PayPal’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS 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 given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.59%.

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.