Moran Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 62.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,457 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 82,972 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $9,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in PayPal by 6.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in PayPal by 2.3% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,874,637,000 after acquiring an additional 636,441 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at about $949,758,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $713,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 625,705 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $45.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.00.

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

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on PayPal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.01.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal joined the European Payments Council, a move that could strengthen its role in shaping European payment rules and support long-term growth in the region. PayPal Stock (PYPL) Pops 3% on Joining EU Payments Council
• Positive Sentiment: Additional coverage highlighted PayPal’s EPC membership as a strategic step toward influencing the future of European payments and instant-transfer infrastructure. PayPal Secures EPC Seat to Help Guide Future of European Payments
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual options activity included cheap out-of-the-money July 10 calls in PYPL, suggesting speculative trading interest rather than a clear fundamental catalyst. Five July 4th Fireworks: Unusual Options Activity Flags Cheap Lottery-Ticket Calls in CHWY, AVGO, PYPL, STLA and WMT
• Neutral Sentiment: A shareholder litigation firm said it is investigating PayPal’s officers and directors for possible fiduciary-duty issues, but this is only an early-stage legal probe and not a formal case. Kuehn Law Encourages Investors of PayPal Holdings, Inc. to Contact Law Firm

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% 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 worth $966,623. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

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.