Piper Sandler Upgrades PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) to “Hold”

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) was upgraded by analysts at Piper Sandler to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on PayPal from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Zacks Research raised PayPal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.01.

PayPal Stock Down 2.7%

PYPL opened at $43.18 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.25. The company has a market capitalization of $38.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.10, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.34. PayPal has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50. 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 (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $196,194.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,768,260.18. This trade represents a 9.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,443.56. The trade was a 45.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. 0.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 14.2% during the first quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 9,197 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 77,369 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,499,000 after acquiring an additional 23,921 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 1,151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 350,802 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,867,000 after acquiring an additional 86,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robinswood Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the first quarter valued at $26,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal was upgraded by Piper Sandler to “hold”, suggesting the firm sees less downside than before and that the valuation may be approaching a more balanced level. Zacks.com
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted PayPal as cheap on a valuation basis, with its forward P/E near 8.2, which could attract value-oriented investors if growth stabilizes. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin push and expansion into 70 markets pointed to new product opportunities that could improve merchant payments and support longer-term growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Shift4 Payments vs. PayPal framed PYPL as a profitable global payments platform, but also noted execution and competitive challenges that remain relevant for investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary suggested PayPal is still in the middle of a turnaround, with cost savings and technology modernization supporting the long-term thesis, but not yet removing near-term uncertainty.
• Negative Sentiment: PayPal shares fell as investors remained cautious about growth, margin pressure, and competition, with concern that estimates may still need to come down. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reiterated a “sell” rating and raised its price target only modestly to $41, reinforcing a cautious Wall Street view on the stock. Article Title

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.