Macquarie Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities research analysts at Macquarie in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $100.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock. Macquarie’s target price points to a potential upside of 134.60% from the stock’s current price.

PYPL has been the subject of several other reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on PayPal from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on PayPal from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.10.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL traded down $9.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.63. 77,060,320 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,552,061. PayPal has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $82.69. The company has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.96% and a return on equity of 25.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.84, for a total transaction of $249,054.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,022.72. The trade was a 11.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total value of $615,303.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,366,486.71. This trade represents a 20.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in PayPal by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,874,637,000 after purchasing an additional 636,441 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth about $921,570,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in PayPal by 1.6% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 11,992,031 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $891,248,000 after acquiring an additional 184,014 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,131,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $746,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,365 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Experienced CEO hire could help execution — PayPal named Enrique Lores (former HP CEO and PayPal board chair) as CEO effective March 1; the board framed the move as an effort to accelerate innovation and execution. PayPal hires HP’s Enrique Lores as its new CEO
• Positive Sentiment: Underlying volume and revenue growth remain positive on a year-over-year basis — Q4 revenue rose ~4% and total payment volume showed mid‑single to high‑single growth, indicating continued demand for payments services even as momentum slows. PayPal in Charts: Total Payment Volume rose 8.5% Y/Y in Q4
• Neutral Sentiment: Interim management and governance steps — CFO/COO Jamie Miller will serve as interim CEO until Lores starts; David Dorman appointed independent board chair, signaling an active board response to execution issues. PayPal replaces CEO Chriss with HP’s Lores
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings and revenue misses — PayPal reported adjusted EPS of $1.23 vs. consensus ~ $1.29 and revenue ~$8.68B vs. expectations near $8.8B, which triggered immediate downside pressure. PayPal Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Weaker profit outlook for 2026 spooked investors — management signaled lower earnings in 2026/1Q26, prompting analysts to cut forecasts and sparking the selloff. PayPal Names HP Exec as New CEO; Expects Earnings Decline in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Operational pressures: checkout growth slowing and fewer transactions per active account — competitive pressures in checkout and BNPL moderation are weighing on near‑term growth expectations. PayPal (PYPL) Stock: Q4 Earnings Face Pressure From Slowing Checkout Growth
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and headline risk — the stock plunged on the combined news, producing heavy volume and spillover weakness in other payments stocks; media coverage and high-profile insider sale headlines add to short‑term volatility. PayPal Stock Plummets on Earnings Miss, CEO Change

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.