PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 6.7% – Time to Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares rose 6.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $48.00 and last traded at $47.02. Approximately 57,943,127 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 119% from the average daily volume of 26,427,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.05.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Buyout/takeover interest: Reports that PayPal has attracted unsolicited takeover approaches (some suitors eye the whole company, others specific assets) sparked a sharp rally as investors priced in a potential acquisition premium. PayPal attracts takeover interest (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Buyout chatter amplified by executive change: Market commentary tied a recent CEO/executive shakeup to increased M&A interest, helping lift sentiment despite recent earnings misses. Buyout Chatter Lifts PYPL Stock (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic investments: PayPal Ventures participated in a $16.6M Series A for Xflow (cross‑border payments for Indian exporters), signaling continued investment in growth opportunities and international payments capabilities. PayPal Ventures helps Xflow raise $16M (PYMNTS)
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options activity and a temporary LULD trading pause signaled speculative positioning and intraday volatility but do not by themselves change fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary (features and “stock of the day” pieces) argues the stock may be oversold and could be experiencing a capitulation bounce; this is speculative and dependent on any concrete M&A or strategy news. Is PayPal Finally Coming Back To Life? (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities‑class action filings and investor alerts were announced (several law firms are soliciting lead‑plaintiff candidates for suits covering Feb. 25, 2025–Feb. 2, 2026), which increases legal overhang and could pressure the stock if litigation progresses. Rosen Law firm investor alert (Newsfile)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pressure: Wells Fargo reiterated a Hold but cut its price target from $58 to $48; other sell‑side downgrades have flagged slower growth and a weak outlook, which can cap upside absent a clear strategic outcome (e.g., an M&A bid). Wells Fargo lowers PT on PayPal (InsiderMonkey)
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/security issue: PayPal disclosed a Working Capital application error that exposed PII of about 100 users over several months — a reputational and compliance risk that investors may view negatively. PPWC security lapse (PYMNTS)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on PYPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $64.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Compass Point upgraded PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price objective on PayPal from $61.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on PayPal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.03.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $43.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $52.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.93.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The business had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. PayPal’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.35%.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total transaction of $1,560,563.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,285,484.67. The trade was a 54.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.49, for a total transaction of $49,114.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,357.96. This represents a 75.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,304 shares of company stock worth $1,749,493. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in PayPal by 41.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 40.1% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after buying an additional 4,974 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% 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.