Morningstar Investment Management LLC Buys 31,896 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Morningstar Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 79.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,011 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,896 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $3,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Maia Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.5% in the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its position in PayPal by 6.2% during the third quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in PayPal by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in PayPal by 0.8% in the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 25,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,625 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the transaction, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623 in the last ninety days. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist Securities upgraded PayPal from Sell to Hold and raised its price target to $57 from $44, signaling improved confidence in the stock and helping sentiment around PYPL. Article: Benzinga report on Truist upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Stripe and Advent International have approached PayPal with a $53 billion takeover bid have fueled speculation that PYPL could be worth more in a deal, boosting investor interest. Article: Yahoo Finance takeover report
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in about an 8.8% swing around next week’s earnings, indicating elevated expectations and potential volatility rather than a clear directional view. Article: TipRanks earnings volatility report
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts say investors are focused on TPV growth, platform expansion, margins, and competition heading into earnings, with macro uncertainty still clouding the outlook. Article: Zacks preview
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal remains a low-valuation name by market standards, with investors noting its roughly 11x earnings multiple and ongoing share repurchases as support for long-term value. Article: 24/7 Wall St. valuation note

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PYPL shares. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of 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 research note on Thursday, July 16th. Clear Str raised PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PayPal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.96.

PayPal Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of PYPL opened at $56.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $49.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.14.

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

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.51%.

PayPal 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.