PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded at Clear Str

Clear Str upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their price target on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays raised PayPal from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.61.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL opened at $56.56 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $49.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.60 and its 200 day moving average is $47.23. PayPal has a 12-month low of $38.46 and a 12-month high of $79.50.

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

PayPal Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at $78,443.56. The trade was a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623 over the last ninety days. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in PayPal by 67.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,158,554,000 after acquiring an additional 10,356,256 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at $949,758,000. Amundi lifted its stake in PayPal by 227.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $624,364,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in PayPal by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $713,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,843 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal News Summary

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.