PayPal Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 109,935 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 37% compared to the typical daily volume of 80,128 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. 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. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded PayPal from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays initiated coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider 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 through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal joined the European Payments Council, a strategically important move that could expand its influence over European payment standards and support its international growth ambitions. PayPal Joins the European Payments Council
• Positive Sentiment: Investors bought an unusually high volume of PayPal call options, a sign that some traders are positioning for further gains in PYPL.
• Positive Sentiment: Technical and index-related flows may be providing support as Russell reconstitution and market-cap reshuffling keep attention on the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles continue to frame PayPal as a rebound candidate, with debate centered on whether the stock is undervalued or a value trap. Is PayPal Stock a Bargain or a Value Trap?
• Negative Sentiment: Broader investor caution remains in the background because some recent commentary points to margin pressure and mixed institutional positioning, which could limit upside.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded up $1.33 during trading on Monday, reaching $47.65. The company had a trading volume of 20,280,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,285,459. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.01 and its 200 day moving average is $47.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.33. PayPal has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

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

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.