PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 2.7% – Should You Sell?

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL – Get Free Report) fell 2.7% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $44.34 and last traded at $44.36. Approximately 15,235,546 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 25,613,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.57.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the subject of several research reports. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. HSBC lowered shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.03.

View Our Latest Research Report on PayPal

PayPal Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $41.34 billion, a PE ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.91 and its 200-day moving average is $59.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $621,960.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,837.66. This represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,113.34. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 41.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in PayPal by 40.1% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 4,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new position in PayPal during the second quarter valued at $939,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading