North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $1.92 Million in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 32,808 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,915,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PYPL. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 103.1% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 656 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $621,960.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,837.66. This trade represents a 30.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 94,986 shares of company stock worth $4,244,904 over the last 90 days. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded PayPal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. HSBC lowered PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on PayPal from $41.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $52.00 price target on PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.85.

PayPal Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $44.38 on Tuesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.50. The stock has a market cap of $39.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.54 and a 200-day moving average of $52.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is 10.51%.

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.