Audent Global Asset Management LLC Takes $1.54 Million Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Audent Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 33,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,000. PayPal comprises 1.6% of Audent Global Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PYPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $949,758,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in PayPal by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $713,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,843 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in PayPal by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,803,241 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $513,966,000 after acquiring an additional 625,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in PayPal by 1.6% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,493,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $605,488,000 after acquiring an additional 132,837 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PYPL. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of PayPal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Clear Str raised shares of PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays upgraded PayPal from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $42.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.61.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

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

Insider Transactions at PayPal

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

PayPal Trading Down 0.3%

PayPal stock opened at $56.56 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.50. The stock has a market cap of $49.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.33.

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

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.51%.

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.