PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 1% on Analyst Downgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was down 1% during trading on Friday 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 $57.28 and last traded at $57.66. Approximately 14,988,067 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 14,811,846 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.27.

PYPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of PayPal from $74.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on PayPal from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Baird R W cut PayPal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a “negative” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.26.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total value of $615,303.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,699 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,486.71. This trade 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 is available through this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.87, for a total transaction of $860,875.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,799.21. The trade was a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,156 shares of company stock valued at $2,432,524. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Partnership with Microsoft to power Copilot Checkout — integration lets shoppers complete purchases inside Microsoft Copilot, expanding PayPal’s payment footprint and potential transaction volume. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting PayPal as a value buy — recent pieces (Forbes, MoneyShow) argue PYPL’s valuation and margins make it an attractive long‑term purchase for value investors. Should You Consider Buying PayPal Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: New Transaction Graph Analytics program — product aimed at merchant analytics/insights that could boost monetization and seller retention if adoption scales. How PayPal’s New Transaction Graph Analytics Program Will Impact PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity shows elevated interest — options flow and positioning can signal short‑term speculators hedging or positioning around catalysts, but direction is ambiguous. Behind the Scenes of PayPal Holdings’s Latest Options Trends
• Neutral Sentiment: Susquehanna trims price target (from $94 to $90) but keeps a “positive” rating — reduced upside estimate but analyst stance remains constructive, a mixed signal for sentiment. PayPal price target lowered by at Susquehanna
• Neutral Sentiment: Market summaries note PYPL has dipped more than the broader market recently — useful context but not a direct catalyst. Why Paypal (PYPL) Dipped More Than Broader Market Today
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs lowered its price target to $65 — a meaningful cut that reduces analyst‑driven upside and likely pressured sentiment. The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Price Target to $65.00
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrade drove a sell reaction — coverage noting the downgrade has coincided with downward pressure on the stock. PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 2.2% After Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Public criticism from commentators (Jim Cramer: “late to new technologies”) feeds a narrative that PayPal risks losing share to newer fintech entrants and could weigh on sentiment. Jim Cramer on Paypal: “The Company’s Been Late to New Technologies”

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its stake 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 during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in PayPal in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 285.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 524 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $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 Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.40. The company has a market capitalization of $53.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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. The business had revenue of $8.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.21 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.96% and a return on equity of 25.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. 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, research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.