Orographic Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Orographic Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 20,486 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $926,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in PayPal by 67.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,158,554,000 after buying an additional 10,356,256 shares in the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the first quarter worth $660,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 15.3% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. IFS Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the first quarter worth $336,000. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 273.2% during the first quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,804 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 18,158 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $77,679.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at $128,749.60. This trade represents a 37.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,612 shares of company stock valued at $484,534. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $57.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.33. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. PayPal’s payout ratio is currently 10.59%.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal reported second-quarter revenue of $8.68 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.38, exceeding estimates of $8.47 billion and $1.28, respectively. Management also raised its full-year profit outlook, citing improving branded checkout, Venmo growth and cost savings. PayPal’s Q2 Earnings Call Focuses on Checkout Stability
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts lifted their price targets following the results, including JPMorgan to $65, Mizuho to $60, Citi to $61 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to $70, with KBW upgrading the shares to outperform. Analysts Boost PayPal Forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is joining Binance’s bStocks initiative, potentially expanding access to tokenized equities for crypto users and creating additional payment or financial-services opportunities. PayPal Joins Binance bStocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports say Stripe and Advent International recently offered about $60.50 per share for PayPal. The board reportedly viewed the bid as too low, while CEO discussions indicated openness to potential deals but continued preference for an independent recovery. The speculation may provide valuation support but also highlights strategic uncertainty. PayPal CEO Signals Deal Openness
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, payable September 25 to shareholders of record September 4, offering an annualized yield of roughly 1%.
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided: Wells Fargo, TD Cowen, Baird, Canaccord and Wolfe Research retained neutral or hold ratings, while Goldman Sachs reportedly warned that stronger results have not resolved PayPal’s core branded-checkout and competitive-positioning challenges. Wall Street Divided on PayPal
• Negative Sentiment: Two insiders sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans: Frank Keller sold 732 shares and Chief Accounting Officer Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares. Because the transactions were scheduled in advance, they are a limited—but still potentially negative—signal.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PYPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price target on PayPal from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on PayPal from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group set a $45.00 price objective on PayPal in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.50.

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.