PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 2.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) were down 2.2% during trading on Wednesday after Susquehanna lowered their price target on the stock from $94.00 to $90.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. PayPal traded as low as $58.26 and last traded at $58.52. Approximately 17,756,995 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 17% from the average daily volume of 15,164,784 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.81.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on PYPL. UBS Group reduced their price objective on PayPal from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down from $83.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total transaction of $615,303.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,366,486.71. This represents a 20.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.13, for a total transaction of $94,984.62. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 36,156 shares of company stock valued at $2,432,524 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Partnership with Microsoft to power Copilot Checkout — expands PayPal’s payment presence inside Microsoft’s Copilot, enabling in-app browsing and payments and driving potential transaction volume and merchant reach. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube accepts PayPal’s stablecoin (PYUSD) for US creators — increases real-world utility and adoption of PayPal’s crypto product, opening a new payments flow and potential fee/revenue streams. Do Kwon sentenced … YouTube enables PYUSD payouts
• Positive Sentiment: Launch of PayPal’s Transaction Graph Analytics program — product aimed at better merchant insights and fraud detection that could improve margins and merchant retention over time. How PayPal’s New Transaction Graph Analytics Program Will Impact PayPal Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed — Susquehanna trimmed its price target (from $94 to $90) but kept a “positive” rating, signaling continued confidence in upside despite a reduction; separately, Goldman cut its target to $65, reflecting divergent analyst assumptions on near-term growth. Susquehanna price target lowered Goldman lowers target to $65
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive outlook pieces (Forbes, MoneyShow, Motley-Fool coverage) highlight PayPal’s valuation and steady growth, which supports longer-term buy arguments but may have limited immediate impact on price. Should You Consider Buying PayPal Stock? MoneyShow Top Picks 2026: PayPal
• Negative Sentiment: Share-loss concerns for PayPal’s branded checkout — analysis claims PayPal is losing checkout market share and management attributes some weakness to macro; that raises near-term revenue and growth risk if trends continue. PayPal’s Branded Checkout Is Bleeding Market Share
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term price pressure and analyst downgrades are reflected in recent intraday weakness and a larger pullback compared with the market; investors are parsing execution risks against long-term opportunities. Why PayPal Dipped More Than Broader Market Today

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its position in shares of PayPal by 100.4% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 385 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 87,524 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 285.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 524 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Down 0.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $54.52 billion, a PE ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.80 and its 200-day moving average is $67.55.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.14. PayPal had a net margin of 14.96% and a return on equity of 25.64%. The business had revenue of $8.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. PayPal has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.270-1.310 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.390 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.22%.

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.