PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 2.7% – Here’s Why

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) traded down 2.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $44.34 and last traded at $44.36. 15,235,546 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 25,613,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.57.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal joined Mastercard’s new Crypto Partner Program alongside Binance and Ripple, which can help expand PYUSD and payments integrations with merchants and banks — a potential long-term growth catalyst. Binance, Ripple, PayPal Join Mastercard’s 85+ Partner Crypto Initiative
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~19% in late-February (to ~41.8M shares, ~4.5% of float), reducing one form of downward pressure and indicating fewer active large short bets on PYPL in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent intraday moves showed the stock rising in a soft market session, reflecting short-term volatility and headline sensitivity rather than a clear change in fundamentals. Paypal (PYPL) Rises As Market Takes a Dip: Key Facts
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities class-action lawsuits have been filed alleging that PayPal made material misstatements/omissions about revenue outlook and growth tied to the Feb. 3 earnings miss and CEO exit — a direct driver of today’s selling pressure and legal risk. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Faces Securities Class Action Amid $9 Billion Market Cap Wipeout, CEO Departure — Hagens Berman
• Negative Sentiment: Numerous law firms (Kessler Topaz, Rosen, Pomerantz, Levi & Korsinsky, etc.) are soliciting lead-plaintiff applicants and reminding investors of an April 20, 2026 deadline — signaling significant, coordinated litigation activity that could increase settlement/defense costs and management distraction. ROSEN, GLOBAL INVESTOR RIGHTS COUNSEL, Encourages PayPal Holdings, Inc. Investors to Secure Counsel Before Important Deadline in Securities Class Action – PYPL
• Negative Sentiment: Counsel alerts emphasize potential individual liability for senior officers (CEO/CFO) and repeat allegations that prior disclosures were insufficient — increasing tail risk to shares and investor sentiment. SUEWALLST: PYPL CEO AND CFO FACE PERSONAL LIABILITY IN SECURITIES ACTION
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst and opinion pieces flag valuation and execution concerns (e.g., “value trap” commentary), reflecting skepticism that current fundamentals justify the stock’s prior levels absent clearer growth signs. PayPal: A Classic Value Trap

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PYPL. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price target on PayPal from $61.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of PayPal from $58.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $90.00 to $63.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.03.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $40.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.10.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released 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 firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,992.20. The trade was a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $621,960.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,837.66. This trade represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PayPal by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,089,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $297,130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998,286 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,177,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $548,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160,227 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1,066.0% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,106,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $156,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925,583 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.