Insider Selling: PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) CAO Sells $30,249.60 in Stock

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) CAO Chris Natali sold 552 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total value of $30,249.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,520. This represents a 18.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Chris Natali also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 29th, Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $77,679.70.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL opened at $53.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.99. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.21. The company has a market cap of $45.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.28.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is 10.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on PayPal from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on PayPal from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group downgraded shares of PayPal to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.03.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal, M0 and MoonPay launched PYUSDx, a developer platform that allows businesses to create financial products and customized digital-dollar offerings using PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin. Three projects have already processed more than $100 million, offering a potential new source of payments and stablecoin-related growth. PayPal Debuts Developer Platform Tied to PYUSD Stablecoin
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Enrique Lores defended keeping PayPal as one company rather than splitting it up, while outlining three focused business lines. The plan includes greater emphasis on Venmo and Braintree growth and approximately $1.5 billion in cost savings, which could improve efficiency and margins. PayPal CEO Reveals Business Model Shift
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with $1.38 in earnings per share and $8.68 billion in revenue. Combined with stablecoin expansion and a low P/E ratio, these factors support the view that the shares may have recovery potential.
• Neutral Sentiment: Lores said PayPal is keeping its options open amid buyout speculation, but he pushed back against selling the company cheaply. The comments may revive takeover interest, although no transaction has been announced. PayPal Keeping Options Open Amid Buyout Rumors
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Chris Natali sold 552 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The relatively small, scheduled transaction is a limited signal about management’s current outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to warn that PayPal faces formidable competition, slowing growth and execution challenges. The stock remains roughly 30% below its 52-week high, leaving investors focused on whether the turnaround can produce sustained transaction and user growth. Is PayPal Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,236,989,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in PayPal by 4,036.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 55,904,110 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,413,939,000 after buying an additional 54,552,522 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in PayPal by 67.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,158,554,000 after buying an additional 10,356,256 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $949,758,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in PayPal by 227.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $624,364,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,488 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc is a digital payments and financial technology company that operates a global platform for consumers and businesses. Its services enable customers to send and receive money, make purchases online and in stores, and accept payments through digital checkout solutions. PayPal supports transactions using linked bank accounts, debit and credit cards, stored balances and other payment methods.

The company’s consumer and merchant offerings include the PayPal wallet, PayPal Checkout, PayPal Zettle point-of-sale tools, PayPal Braintree payment processing and PayPal Complete Payments.