PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Down 3.3% – Here’s Why

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price traded down 3.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $44.55 and last traded at $44.59. 18,704,791 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 24,864,039 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.13.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal expanded its dollar?pegged stablecoin, PYUSD, to 70 markets, enabling users and merchants to buy, hold, send and receive PYUSD for faster, lower?cost cross?border transfers and near?instant merchant settlement — a potential revenue-growth and margin improvement lever if adoption scales. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Exchange integrations are increasing PayPal’s utility: Bybit EU added PayPal for fiat on/off ramps in EEA markets, which could drive transaction volume and PYPL’s crypto-related fee income. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media comparisons highlight competitive pressures from regional super?apps (e.g., Kaspi.kz) that can be cheaper or more entrenched in local markets — a reminder PayPal faces product and pricing competition overseas. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have filed or issued investor alerts about securities?class actions tied to PayPal’s weak Feb. 3 earnings, withdrawn guidance and an unexpected CEO departure — increasing legal risk, potential costs and executive uncertainty. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms are soliciting lead plaintiff motions (Glancy Prongay, Faruqi & Faruqi, Levi & Korsinsky, Rosen, etc.), and at least one complaint names senior executives for individual liability — this litigation wave could be a persistent overhang on the stock. Read More.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.03.

PayPal Trading Down 3.4%

The firm has a market cap of $41.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The company 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,992.20. The trade was a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,560,563.37. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,285,484.67. The trade was a 54.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PayPal by 6.5% in 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. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PayPal by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,089,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $297,130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,286 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,177,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $548,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 1,066.0% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,106,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $156,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925,583 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PayPal

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.