PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 2.2% After Analyst Upgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares rose 2.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $48.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $46.35 and last traded at $45.85. Approximately 14,946,549 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 23,213,693 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.87.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on PYPL. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. HSBC cut shares of PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $67.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.41.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,113.34. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,140 shares in the company, valued at $50,992.20. This represents a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic boost — coverage highlights a new partnership with Meta that positions PayPal to expand into social commerce, which could increase transaction volume and merchant reach. Meta Platforms Gains 4%: Strong Ad Revenue Growth and PayPal Partnership Put the Stock Back in Focus
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst action — Citigroup raised its price target on PYPL to $48 (from $42) while keeping a neutral rating, signaling modest upside in sell‑side expectations. Citigroup Adjusts Price Target on PayPal to $48 From $42; Maintains Neutral Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor debate — recent commentary asks whether PayPal is a value buy after a prolonged share slump; useful for long-term investors but does not provide immediate catalysts. Is It Time To Reassess PayPal (PYPL) After Its Prolonged Share Price Slump?
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang — multiple law firms have filed or are soliciting lead-plaintiff motions in securities class actions relating to alleged disclosures during a class period; firms are reminding investors of an April 20, 2026 deadline. This increases potential litigation risk and investor uncertainty. Representative notices: Faruqi & Faruqi Class Action Notice Frank R. Cruz notice Pomerantz investor alert
• Negative Sentiment: Security incident — a reported cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized transactions led PayPal to issue refunds to affected users. That raises short-term operational costs and could pressure customer trust if issues persist. PayPal Cybersecurity Incident Tests Platform Resilience

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 41.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in shares of PayPal by 40.1% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 4,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of PayPal by 17.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,909 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Trading Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $44.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.87.

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

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.35%.

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.