PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 1.6% Following Analyst Downgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price was down 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $65.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. PayPal traded as low as $56.60 and last traded at $56.74. Approximately 16,002,705 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 15,694,835 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.66.

PYPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of PayPal from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. KGI Securities decreased their price objective on PayPal from $85.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup reduced their target price on PayPal from $78.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on PayPal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.05.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.97, for a total value of $264,706.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,171,731.33. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,374 shares of PayPal 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 36,156 shares of company stock valued at $2,432,524 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha publishes a bullish thesis arguing PYPL is “dirt cheap” with multiple near-term catalysts that could re-rate the stock (valuation, product leverage and optionality). PayPal: A Dirt Cheap Nexus Of Catalysts
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary (InsiderMonkey) highlights PayPal as a “depressed” buy—framing recent weakness as a buying opportunity despite TD Cowen trimming its price target—supporting a value/recovery trade narrative. Is PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) One of the Best Depressed Stocks to Buy Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Interactive Brokers will add support for PayPal USD (PYUSD) for account funding next week (after initial USDC support), which could help PYUSD adoption and indirectly benefit PayPal’s payments ecosystem. Interactive Brokers to allow stablecoins for account funding
• Negative Sentiment: Michael Burry published a long, critical analysis of the payments sector that specifically calls out risks for PayPal, adding headline risk and prompting investor caution. Michael Burry Sounds the Alarm on Payments Sector – XYZ, PYPL, FOUR
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler issues a pessimistic forecast for PYPL, signaling downside risks from operational or growth concerns that could pressure the stock. Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts continue to cut targets and ratings: TD Cowen lowered its price target to $65 (hold), Compass Point cut its target to $55 and kept a sell rating, and Daiwa Capital downgraded PYPL—these actions increase selling pressure and reduce near-term upside expectations. TD Cowen adjusts price target on PayPal to $65 Compass Point adjusts price target on PayPal to $55 Daiwa Capital downgrades PayPal Holdings (PYPL)

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its position in PayPal by 2.8% during the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 154,991 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,519,000 after buying an additional 4,165 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the second quarter worth approximately $325,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.5% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 164,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,058,000 after purchasing an additional 22,139 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in PayPal by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,292,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $291,338,000 after buying an additional 313,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 347.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 193,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,949,000 after acquiring an additional 149,898 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $53.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’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. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a $0.14 dividend. 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 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.