Cullinan Associates Inc. Decreases Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Cullinan Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 25.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,073 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 28,747 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $3,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 2.0% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,593,196 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $284,694,000 after purchasing an additional 128,426 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 45,898 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 26,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan grew its position in shares of PayPal by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 258,278 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,152,000 after buying an additional 5,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of PayPal by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 88,379 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,816,000 after buying an additional 8,154 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PYPL. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on PayPal from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on PayPal from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on PayPal from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $50.00 target price on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.14.

PayPal Stock Down 12.7%

PYPL stock opened at $53.66 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $53.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.11. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.21. The company has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total transaction of $253,715.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,723.68. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $77,679.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,749.60. The trade was a 37.63% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 14,774 shares of company stock valued at $738,249. 0.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some market observers argue that PayPal’s board protected potentially greater long-term shareholder value by rejecting the reported $60.50-per-share offer, which valued the company at approximately $53 billion. Options pricing also continues to indicate a bullish bias among some traders. PayPal Drops 12% Overnight on Dead Stripe Deal
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal remains an independent turnaround story, with recent initiatives expanding PayPal and Venmo tuition-payment integrations through campus platforms. Investors will now focus more closely on whether management can improve growth and execution without takeover support. PayPal Tuition Payment Push
• Neutral Sentiment: The failed transaction removes a major change-of-control catalyst and returns attention to PayPal’s standalone fundamentals. The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, but revenue growth remained modest and earnings per share declined year over year, leaving execution of its turnaround as the key valuation driver.
• Negative Sentiment: The reported withdrawal eliminates the takeover premium that had supported PYPL during weeks of deal speculation. Reports cited valuation concerns, regulatory hurdles and a breakdown in negotiations; the abrupt reversal has therefore prompted investors to reassess PayPal at its lower standalone valuation. PayPal Shares Fall After Consortium Abandons Takeover Pursuit
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts, including Mizuho, are highlighting risks facing PayPal after the deal collapsed. The heavy trading volume and test of the 50-day moving average indicate heightened uncertainty as investors await evidence that the company can generate sufficient growth independently. Why PayPal Stock Is Down and What Mizuho Thinks Comes Next

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.