34,326 Shares in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Bought by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 34,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,482,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position 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 period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in PayPal by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 4,974 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,909 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $61.25 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.21.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is currently 10.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.28.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal and Venmo are expanding into higher-education tuition payments through integrations with Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet. The services are already available at schools including Michigan State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Butler and Bellarmine, potentially increasing transaction volume and everyday use of PayPal’s wallets. PayPal and Venmo Expand to Tuition Payments
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Stripe and Advent International have renewed interest in a potential PayPal transaction are supporting the shares by reinforcing takeover speculation. However, no deal has been announced, so this remains a potential catalyst rather than a confirmed development. PayPal Buyout Talks Resurface
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $59 while maintaining a Neutral rating, indicating greater recognition of potential value beyond PayPal’s checkout business. Piper Sandler Raises PayPal Price Target

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $196,194.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,260.18. The trade was a 9.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $77,679.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,749.60. The trade was a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 14,774 shares of company stock worth $738,249 in the last ninety days. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About PayPal

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.