PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 325,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 14,200 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in PayPal were worth $19,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Argos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $471,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in PayPal by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,445 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,351 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its position in PayPal by 564.8% in the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 31,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 26,484 shares in the last quarter. First National Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $492,000. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of PayPal by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 64,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,771,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,443.56. The trade was a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total value of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,687.32. This trade represents a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,199 shares of company stock worth $4,294,018. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal announced an AI training initiative with Anthropic, offering free small-business education and access to Claude-related tools, which supports its push to become a broader commerce and financial-services platform. PayPal and Anthropic Take AI to Main Street Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s new partnership with the Seattle Seahawks expands its presence in NFL ticketing and fan payments, giving the company another consumer-facing channel to drive engagement and transaction volume. PayPal Seahawks Deal Tests Live Event Role In Broader Commerce Story
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to PayPal’s relatively low valuation and the company’s stronger-than-expected Q1 results as reasons some investors remain constructive on the stock. What Could This Step Mean For PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL) Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal co-founder Max Levchin said AI will expose weak software, but his comments were more about the broader technology landscape than a direct change to PayPal’s business outlook. It’s Long Overdue To Get Rid Of Bad Software, Says PayPal Co-Founder Max Levchin
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry coverage continues to favor financial-transaction stocks amid digital-payment growth and strong consumer spending, which is supportive for PayPal but not company-specific. 5 Financial Transaction Stocks to Watch Amid Digital Advancements
• Negative Sentiment: PayPal agreed to waive about $30 million in transaction fees after a Justice Department investigation into a former DEI-related investment program, adding legal and reputational overhang. Trump’s ‘war on DEI’ reaches PayPal
• Negative Sentiment: Truist cut its price target on PayPal to $44 from $45 and kept a Sell rating, citing weakness in cross-border volume, while Deutsche Bank also lowered its target to $45 from $50. PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Price Target Cut to $44.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $45.23 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.31. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The stock has a market cap of $39.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.39.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. PayPal’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s payout ratio is currently 10.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PYPL. Zacks Research raised shares of PayPal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $52.00 price objective on PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Stephens reduced their price objective on PayPal from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.85.

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.