PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $55.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $42.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on PYPL. Bank of America decreased their target price on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.61.

PayPal Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $56.56 on Thursday. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $49.89 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.33.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The company had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. PayPal’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that PayPal will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total value of $536,170.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,687.32. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,443.56. The trade was a 45.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in PayPal during the second quarter worth $25,000. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in PayPal by 15,233.3% in the fourth 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, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The reported takeover interest from Stripe and Advent has fueled speculation that PayPal could be worth more than the current offer, with several analysts and investors arguing the bid is too low. Reuters: PayPal board sees Stripe-Advent offer as inadequate, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests the bid could force a higher valuation for PYPL, potentially supporting further upside if negotiations continue or a competing offer emerges. Yahoo Finance: Cantor sees potential for higher PayPal offer as analysis suggests $70/share value
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal’s board has reportedly not formally responded yet, so the deal is still early-stage and subject to negotiation, financing, and regulatory risk. Yahoo Finance weekly review
• Negative Sentiment: The board is said to view the $53 billion proposal as inadequate, which could mean a longer path to any deal or no deal at all if a higher price does not materialize. PYMNTS: PayPal Board Calls $53 Billion Stripe-Advent Bid Inadequate

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.