Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 402,671 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,537,873 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 402,671 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of PayPal worth $114,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts say PayPal still has support from rising payment volumes, Venmo growth, and ongoing technology upgrades, which could help long-term earnings and transaction growth. Is PYPL Stock Worth Retaining in Your Portfolio for the Long Run?
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin launching natively on Polygon is boosting interest in the company’s digital assets strategy and could strengthen its payments ecosystem over time. PayPal boosts its stablecoin as banks prepare to launch a shared one
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles note conflicting analyst views on PayPal, suggesting the stock still has divided Wall Street support rather than a clear consensus. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Financial Companies: American Express (AXP), Robinhood (HOOD) and PayPal Holdings (PYPL)
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal is still being viewed as a value stock by some investors, but commentary suggests the turnaround is not complete and the market remains cautious on execution. 2 Value Stocks for Long-Term Investors and 1 We Avoid
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays reportedly upgraded PayPal to “strong sell,” reinforcing concerns about near-term pressure and helping explain the stock’s weaker performance trend. Zacks.com
• Negative Sentiment: TipRanks noted PayPal is down nearly 22% year to date, reflecting investor skepticism about the pace of its turnaround and ongoing competitive/macro risks. PayPal (PYPL) Stock Is Down 22% YTD; Let’s Look at Who Owns the Stock?

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $46.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,627,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,801,931. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.46 and a 12-month high of $79.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $44.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,260.18. The trade was a 9.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at $78,443.56. This trade 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. Insiders 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PYPL. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 29th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PayPal in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on PayPal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on PayPal from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.91.

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.