PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 47.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,238 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 15,655 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Robinswood Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of PayPal by 15,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $54.96 on Monday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.28.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.59%.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $42,529.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,042.70. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 4,162 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total value of $253,715.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,231 shares of company stock worth $373,924. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on PayPal from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on PayPal from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on PayPal from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on PayPal from $46.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.03.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Renewed takeover speculation, including reports of possible interest from Stripe and discussion of a potential bid near $50 billion, has provided support by raising the possibility of a premium transaction. The reports remain unconfirmed. PayPal Stock Jumps on Fresh Takeover Speculation
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s buy-now-pay-later, credit and debit products are expanding its financial-services offering and could increase customer engagement, transaction volume and revenue growth. PayPal’s BNPL and Credit Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is approaching an ex-dividend date, while its low earnings valuation may attract value-oriented investors. However, valuation support has not fully offset concerns about growth and execution. PayPal stock gains ahead of ex-dividend date
• Negative Sentiment: PayPal reportedly paused the proposed sale of its venture-capital portfolio after potential buyers offered substantially less than expected. The decision reduces near-term proceeds from a noncore-asset sale and suggests difficult market conditions for the portfolio. PayPal pauses venture portfolio sale
• Negative Sentiment: PayPal is eliminating 251 positions at its San Jose headquarters and has also cut jobs in India and Ireland as part of its multiyear restructuring. While the reductions could lower costs over time, the repeated layoffs highlight ongoing operational pressure and uncertainty about the turnaround. PayPal adds another round of layoffs

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.