Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 188,940 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,040 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $11,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in PayPal by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew 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 valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the period. United Bank grew its position in PayPal by 40.1% during 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, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in PayPal by 17.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,909 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL opened at $50.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.40. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

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

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.35%.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Michael Burry disclosed a sizable new PayPal stake (~3.5%), drawing attention from value and activist-focused investors and helping fuel speculative buying. Michael Burry Reveals Major PayPal (PYPL) Position Amid Software Stock Buying Spree
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin is gaining traction; growth in PYUSD and PayPal’s distribution advantage are cited as medium-term revenue and product positives by crypto/payments analysts. PayPal’s (PYPL) PYUSD Is Growing Fast and the Distribution Advantage Is Hard to Ignore
• Positive Sentiment: Product/monetization moves such as Venmo’s Stash expansion (higher rewards/merchant reach) could lift consumer engagement and TPV over time. PayPal’s Venmo Stash Expansion: Will This Drive More Transactions?
• Positive Sentiment: Market chatter about activist interest and potential takeover/strategic action has pushed speculative buying and helped shares recover. Why PayPal Stock Popped Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry reports forecast steady growth in the U.S. payment gateways market through 2034 — a constructive backdrop but not an immediate catalyst. United States Payment Gateways Market Forecast and Company Analysis Report 2026-2034 Featuring PayPal…
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed: some models tighten fair value only slightly and highlight takeover talk, while others cut targets — creating a polarized consensus that supports volatility. How The Story Around PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Is Shifting With Mixed Views And Takeover Talk
• Negative Sentiment: Mizuho and other analysts downgraded/flagged PayPal on rising competitive risk from Elon Musk’s X Money / X Money features (high interest promos, integrated app reach) — a direct threat to Venmo and wallet dynamics. PayPal (PYPL) Stock Faces Mizuho Downgrade Amid X Competition Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Mounting securities class-action filings and multiple law‑firm deadline alerts raise legal and headline risk that could pressure sentiment and increase potential liabilities/costs. DEADLINE ALERT for PYPL: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Reminds Investors…

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,285,484.67. This represents a 54.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,992.20. This represents a 65.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PYPL. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of PayPal from $64.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. HSBC lowered shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.61.

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.