PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded at Barclays

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Loop Capital began coverage on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on PayPal from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.91.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $45.32 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $44.10 and its 200 day moving average is $47.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.33. PayPal has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.50.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at $78,443.56. This trade represents a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Maia Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.5% in the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in PayPal by 6.2% in the third quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PayPal by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC grew its position in PayPal by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 25,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its position in PayPal by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,625 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal expanded PYUSD to Polygon, giving its stablecoin native access to a large settlement network and potentially improving transaction utility for merchants and users. PayPal boosts its stablecoin as banks prepare to launch a shared one
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary suggest the PYUSD launch on Polygon is helping sentiment around PYPL, as the move could increase stablecoin adoption and reinforce PayPal’s crypto strategy. PayPal Stock (PYPL) Ticks Up as PYUSD Goes Native on Polygon
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s continued PYUSD expansion via Paxos and Polygon highlights efforts to build a broader stablecoin settlement network, which may support future growth in payments and fintech services. PayPal’s PYUSD Stablecoin Arrives Natively on Polygon via Paxos Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal also received a bearish analyst initiation from Barclays, but the rating change does not appear to be the main driver of today’s trading action. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Gets a Sell from Barclays
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market risk-off pressure weighed on financial stocks after geopolitical headlines, which may have created some short-term volatility in PYPL. PayPal, Ameriprise Financial, and Ally Financial Shares Are Falling, What You Need To Know
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal is also being discussed for its AI-driven cost savings and BNPL growth strategy, but these items are more long-term than immediate stock catalysts. PayPal AI Push: Will $1.5B Savings Drive Faster Growth Ahead?

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.