Madison Asset Management LLC Acquires New Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 144,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,252,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the second quarter valued at $3,236,989,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $949,758,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in PayPal by 67.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,158,554,000 after acquiring an additional 10,356,256 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in PayPal by 227.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $624,364,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $251,215,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal and Venmo are expanding into higher-education tuition payments through integrations with Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet. The services are already available at schools including Michigan State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Butler and Bellarmine, potentially increasing transaction volume and everyday use of PayPal’s wallets. PayPal and Venmo Expand to Tuition Payments
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Stripe and Advent International have renewed interest in a potential PayPal transaction are supporting the shares by reinforcing takeover speculation. However, no deal has been announced, so this remains a potential catalyst rather than a confirmed development. PayPal Buyout Talks Resurface
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $59 while maintaining a Neutral rating, indicating greater recognition of potential value beyond PayPal’s checkout business. Piper Sandler Raises PayPal Price Target

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total value of $253,715.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,723.68. This represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $77,679.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at $128,749.60. This trade represents a 37.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 14,774 shares of company stock valued at $738,249 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on PYPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $46.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday, July 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.28.

PayPal Stock Up 1.4%

PYPL stock opened at $61.25 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.35. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

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 paid 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 is currently 10.59%.

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.