Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Bank of America from $48.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 6.88% from the company’s previous close.

PYPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Daiwa Securities Group cut their target price on PayPal from $61.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on PayPal from $91.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore cut their target price on PayPal from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.80.

PayPal Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of PYPL opened at $51.46 on Tuesday. PayPal has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.50. The company has a market capitalization of $46.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,992.20. This trade represents a 65.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $621,960.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,837.66. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in PayPal by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,874,637,000 after acquiring an additional 636,441 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $949,758,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $713,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,843 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in PayPal by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,803,241 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $513,966,000 after acquiring an additional 625,705 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: High-profile investor interest: reports say Michael Burry added PayPal to his buys, which can attract momentum buyers and retail attention that lifts shares. Michael Burry (PYPL) Stock Buys PayPal
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish investor takes: analysis pieces argue the turnaround thesis (improving margins, Venmo scale, and a cheaper valuation after the pullback) still has legs, which supports buyer interest at current levels. PayPal: It’s Still Not Too Late To Buy The Turnaround
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer-comparison pieces note Mastercard (MA) has stronger network advantages and higher-margin growth, framing PayPal as the lower-multiple, higher-turnaround option — useful context but not an immediate catalyst. MA vs. PYPL: Which Digital Payments Stock Has More Room to Run?
• Neutral Sentiment: General market commentary about small-cap opportunities appeared today but is unrelated to PayPal’s fundamentals; ignore for PYPL-specific positioning. 1 Small-Cap Stock with Exciting Potential and 2 We Brush Off
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade and lower price target: Mizuho cut PYPL from Outperform to Neutral and trimmed its target to $50, citing competition (notably Musk’s X Money), recent earnings misses, and insider selling — a clear near-term headwind for sentiment and broker-driven flows. Mizuho Downgrades PayPal (PYPL) to Neutral
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: multiple law firms have filed or issued lead-plaintiff/deadline reminders for class actions alleging securities violations covering varying class periods — these notices (Rosen, Faruqi, Bronstein, Bragar, DJS, et al.) add litigation risk and potential future liabilities that can weigh on the stock. PYPL DEADLINE TODAY: ROSEN Encourages PayPal Investors to Secure Counsel PYPL CLASS ACTION DEADLINE TONIGHT: Faruqi & Faruqi

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.