QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $7.95 Million Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 19.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 175,655 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,778 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $7,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $2,043,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 636,441 shares during the period. Step Capital Management Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $6,130,000. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in PayPal by 705.2% during the fourth quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 100,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,876,000 after purchasing an additional 88,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PYPL shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.01.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $196,194.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,768,260.18. This represents a 9.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PayPal News Summary

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

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL opened at $45.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.00.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.51%.

About PayPal

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.