PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Purchased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,608,600 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in PayPal were worth $117,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in PayPal by 15,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in PayPal in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PYPL. Barclays upgraded shares of PayPal from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.61.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Takeover chatter is the main catalyst, as reports say Stripe and Advent have put forward a multi-billion-dollar bid that could force a higher valuation for PayPal. Reuters: How PayPal went from Wall Street favorite to unwilling merger target
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators argue the offer may set a floor for PayPal’s value, which can support the stock if investors expect a better deal or competing interest. The Motley Fool: PayPal: Is Being Bought Out What’s Best for the Company Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades from Barclays and Clear Street add another supportive angle, suggesting some on Wall Street see improving upside despite the company’s challenges. American Banking News: PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Upgraded at Barclays
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal remains a heavily watched stock, but the “trending” coverage itself does not change fundamentals and may just reflect investor speculation ahead of earnings. Yahoo Finance: PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) Is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Near-term earnings expectations are mixed, with Wall Street expecting a single-digit EPS decline next quarter, which keeps attention on fundamentals rather than just takeover headlines. Barchart: What to Expect From PayPal’s Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: Longer-term articles highlight that PayPal has fallen from favor, faces stronger competition from Apple Pay, and is now being viewed as a takeover target rather than a market leader. Reuters: How PayPal went from Wall Street favorite to unwilling merger target

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $56.82 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $44.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.13. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.33.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The company had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total value of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,687.32. This 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. Insiders sold a total of 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

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.