PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Down 2.5% – What’s Next?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price dropped 2.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $44.81 and last traded at $45.02. Approximately 17,508,216 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 26,094,258 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.16.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal was named to Mastercard’s new Crypto Partner Program alongside Binance and Ripple — a strategic signal that PayPal’s PYUSD and crypto payments initiatives remain market-relevant and could support future revenue streams. Binance, Ripple, PayPal Join Mastercard’s 85+ Partner Crypto Initiative
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~19% in February (to ~41.8M shares), lowering immediate short-pressure and potentially reducing a source of downside volatility in the near term. (internal aggregate reporting)
• Neutral Sentiment: Market-note coverage reported a modest session-level bounce for PYPL in recent trading, but that was broad-market driven rather than company news-driven. Paypal (PYPL) Rises As Market Takes a Dip: Key Facts
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate article on Fiserv’s post-earnings move is market context but not directly material to PayPal’s fundamentals. Why Is Fiserv (FISV) Down 5.8% Since Last Earnings Report?
• Negative Sentiment: Wave of securities-class-action filings and investor alerts from multiple law firms allege PayPal misled investors about projected revenue and growth (class period cited: Feb 25, 2025–Feb 2, 2026). The filings name the company and certain officers and set an April 20, 2026 deadline for lead plaintiff motions — creating legal costs, distraction, and headline risk. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) Class Action Lawsuit: Investors Face April 20, 2026, Deadline
• Negative Sentiment: Several prominent plaintiffs’ firms (Hagens Berman, Kessler Topaz, Pomerantz, Faruqi, Rosen, Bronstein Gewirtz & Grossman, Levi & Korsinsky, etc.) have publicly announced investigations or suits — broad legal attention increases the chance of consolidation into a large, costly case. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP Announces Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Allegations reference PayPal’s weak Feb 3 quarter and the abrupt CEO departure — specific operational and governance concerns that amplify investor wariness about near-term execution and management continuity. PayPal Faces Securities Class Action Amid $9B Market Cap Wipeout, CEO Departure

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $42.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. KGI Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.03.

PayPal Price 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.10. The stock has a market cap of $41.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.43.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is 10.35%.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $621,960.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,837.66. This represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in PayPal by 15,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.