PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded at Daiwa Securities Group

Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) from a hold rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PYPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on PayPal from $70.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $42.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on PayPal from $90.00 to $63.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on PayPal from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.42.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $45.37 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.99. PayPal has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50. The stock has a market cap of $40.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.39.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is currently 10.51%.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the business’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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $621,960.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,837.66. This represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 96,199 shares of company stock worth $4,294,018. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 376,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,020,000 after acquiring an additional 31,855 shares during the period. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS purchased a new position in PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at about $384,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. AlTi Global Inc. grew its holdings in PayPal by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 11,953 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 2,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earned Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,608 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still see value in the stock, with RBC and Daiwa assigning upbeat ratings, and commentary arguing PayPal may be cheap enough that expectations are already low.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings showed a beat on both EPS and revenue, suggesting the core business is still growing and executing better than expected.
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Hold rating, reflecting a wait-and-see stance rather than a strong bullish or bearish call.
• Negative Sentiment: Macquarie downgraded PayPal to Neutral and cut its price target, citing a softer second-quarter outlook and a cost-saving plan that appears back-end loaded. Macquarie Downgrades PayPal as Cost-Saving Plan Looks Too Back-End Loaded
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America also lowered its price target and kept a Neutral rating, adding to the cautious analyst tone around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority launched a competition probe into PayPal’s wallet funding and usage practices, raising regulatory uncertainty in an important international market. FCA Probe Tests PayPal’s UK Wallet Economics And Growth Narrative
• Negative Sentiment: Several recent articles argue that the market was not impressed by PayPal’s earnings beat, with investors focusing instead on slower growth expectations, competitive pressures, and margin concerns.

PayPal Company Profile

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.