PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Up 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares traded up 1.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $46.42 and last traded at $46.21. Approximately 23,562,207 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 27,532,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.53.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bloomberg/Yahoo reported that Stripe has expressed interest in all or parts of PayPal, reviving takeover speculation and short‑term buying interest from traders hoping for a strategic bid. PayPal Surges on Stripe Acquisition Interest
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal, MoonPay and M0 announced PYUSDx, a developer‑facing platform to issue app‑specific stablecoins backed by PayPal USD — a product extension that could broaden crypto rails and new revenue channels if adoption follows. PayPal, MoonPay and M0 launch PYUSDx
• Neutral Sentiment: Follow‑up reporting (Semafor/TechCrunch) says PayPal may not be actively pursuing a sale and that no formal talks are underway — this tempers deal hopes and makes the takeover angle speculative until confirmed. PayPal might not be looking to sell itself, report
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have filed or are soliciting plaintiffs in securities class actions against PayPal (lead‑plaintiff deadlines around Apr. 20), creating litigation over disclosures that can pressure the stock and increase potential settlement risk. PYPL Shareholder Action Reminder — Faruqi & Faruqi
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and independent writeups point to slowing growth, rising credit losses, weaker free cash flow and guidance that disappointed investors — narratives that undercut a sustainable multiple expansion. PayPal: A Textbook Value Trap (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Sell ratings and critical notes (e.g., Morgan Stanley / TipRanks coverage) highlight competitive pressure (Braintree economics, Venmo monetization) and an unattractive risk/reward that can keep selling pressure under any rally. Sell Rating on PayPal — TipRanks

Analyst Ratings Changes

PYPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on PayPal from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Compass Point raised PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on PayPal from $50.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.21.

PayPal Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.38. The firm has a market cap of $42.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.43.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). PayPal had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. PayPal’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.35%.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,213 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.49, for a total transaction of $49,114.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,357.96. The trade was a 75.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,560,563.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,285,484.67. The trade was a 54.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 42,304 shares of company stock valued at $1,749,493 in the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 100.4% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 385 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87,524 shares during the period. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.