Bank of America Begins Coverage on PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Analysts at Bank of America began coverage on shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage set an “underperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

PYPL has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $50.00 price objective on PayPal in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on PayPal from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on PayPal from $48.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.28.

PayPal Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:PYPL traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.17. The company had a trading volume of 834,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,371,576. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $56.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.41. 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 firm has a market cap of $48.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.27.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 552 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total transaction of $30,249.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,400 shares in the company, valued at $131,520. The trade was a 18.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total value of $188,277.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,726,372.76. This trade represents a 9.83% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,774 shares of company stock valued at $848,095. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the second quarter valued at about $3,236,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in PayPal during the second quarter worth about $975,563,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth about $422,092,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth about $20,758,000. Finally, Amundi boosted 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 valued at $624,364,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,488 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s valuation remains a key bullish argument: the stock trades at less than 10 times expected earnings, while the company continues to generate respectable growth and earnings. Its latest quarterly results exceeded estimates, with revenue rising 4.8% year over year and EPS surpassing consensus. Is PayPal Stock a Buy at Less Than 10 Times Next Year’s Earnings Guidance?
• Positive Sentiment: Investor David Einhorn’s reported new position in PayPal is supporting the view that the shares may be undervalued and could benefit from a turnaround or strategic changes. PayPal has also been included in several lists of fintech and mobile-payment stocks positioned to benefit from digital-wallet adoption. David Einhorn Opens New Position in PayPal Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: A hotter-than-expected inflation report pushed Treasury yields higher, pressuring consumer-lending and buy-now-pay-later stocks such as Affirm and Klarna. PayPal held up comparatively well, suggesting limited direct sensitivity to that session’s interest-rate shock. Affirm Falls as Inflation Lifts Yields
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America resumed coverage with a Sell rating and a $53 price target, implying roughly 5.5% downside from recent levels. Goldman Sachs also issued a Sell rating, while Bernstein assigned a Hold, adding to investor concerns about PayPal’s slower growth and competitive challenges. BofA Issues Sell Rating on PayPal
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary continues to highlight PayPal’s substantial decline from its 2021 peak and the rise of competing payment platforms. The stock’s low multiple may therefore reflect doubts about whether management can restore stronger, durable growth rather than representing a straightforward bargain. Is PayPal Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?

PayPal Company Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and businesses to send, receive, and manage money online and through mobile devices. Its services support online checkout, peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, digital wallets, and payment processing for merchants.

The company’s principal consumer brands include PayPal and Venmo, while its merchant and commerce offerings include Braintree, PayPal Zettle, and PayPal Complete Payments. PayPal also operates Xoom, a service for international money transfers, and Honey, a shopping and rewards platform.