Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Reduces Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 482,132 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 14,286 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of PayPal worth $20,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the second quarter worth $3,236,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in PayPal by 67.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,158,554,000 after buying an additional 10,356,256 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $949,758,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in PayPal by 227.6% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $624,364,000 after buying an additional 9,590,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $713,158,000 after buying an additional 1,083,843 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PYPL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Clear Str raised PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.14.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some market observers argue that PayPal’s board protected potentially greater long-term shareholder value by rejecting the reported $60.50-per-share offer, which valued the company at approximately $53 billion. Options pricing also continues to indicate a bullish bias among some traders. PayPal Drops 12% Overnight on Dead Stripe Deal
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal remains an independent turnaround story, with recent initiatives expanding PayPal and Venmo tuition-payment integrations through campus platforms. Investors will now focus more closely on whether management can improve growth and execution without takeover support. PayPal Tuition Payment Push
• Neutral Sentiment: The failed transaction removes a major change-of-control catalyst and returns attention to PayPal’s standalone fundamentals. The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, but revenue growth remained modest and earnings per share declined year over year, leaving execution of its turnaround as the key valuation driver.
• Negative Sentiment: The reported withdrawal eliminates the takeover premium that had supported PYPL during weeks of deal speculation. Reports cited valuation concerns, regulatory hurdles and a breakdown in negotiations; the abrupt reversal has therefore prompted investors to reassess PayPal at its lower standalone valuation. PayPal Shares Fall After Consortium Abandons Takeover Pursuit
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts, including Mizuho, are highlighting risks facing PayPal after the deal collapsed. The heavy trading volume and test of the 50-day moving average indicate heightened uncertainty as investors await evidence that the company can generate sufficient growth independently. Why PayPal Stock Is Down and What Mizuho Thinks Comes Next

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $53.66 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.16. The company has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a PE ratio of 10.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.29. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.The business had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 2,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,749.60. This represents a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $196,194.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,768,260.18. This trade represents a 9.99% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 14,774 shares of company stock valued at $738,249 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

PayPal 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.