Bastion Asset Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Bastion Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 74.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,842 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 127,917 shares during the quarter. PayPal makes up about 1.4% of Bastion Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Bastion Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of PayPal by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,874,637,000 after acquiring an additional 636,441 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,131,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $746,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,365 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,493,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $605,488,000 after purchasing an additional 132,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 35.9% in 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 in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $43.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.50.

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

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PYPL shares. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore reduced their price objective on PayPal from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.85.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $621,960.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,837.66. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 57,373 shares of company stock valued at $2,684,341. 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.