PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Down 2.4% After Analyst Downgrade

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) fell 2.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $32.00. Rothschild & Co Redburn currently has a sell rating on the stock. PayPal traded as low as $40.01 and last traded at $40.4920. 21,474,677 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 24,549,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.49.

PYPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Argus reduced their price target on PayPal from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down previously from $93.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $48.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.03.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.84, for a total transaction of $249,054.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,022.72. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 3,478 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.20, for a total value of $139,815.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,072,993.40. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some value/contrarian analysts and columnists argue PYPL is oversold and presents a buy opportunity for long‑term investors, which could attract bargain hunters or trigger short‑covering. PayPal seems broken and that makes it a strong buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Board ousted the prior CEO and tapped Enrique Lores as replacement — this is a major governance event that creates both opportunity (fresh strategy) and uncertainty (execution risk); investors will look for a clear turnaround plan from Lores. PayPal Stock Hits Reset Button Again as New CEO Enrique Lores Gets Tapped to Stop the Bleeding
• Neutral Sentiment: Daiwa trimmed its price target to $42 and maintained a Neutral rating — a reduction but not a deep cut, which is mixed news versus several harsher downgrades. Daiwa adjusts price target on PayPal to $42
• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn sharply cut its target to $32 and kept a Sell rating — one of the steepest downgrades, increasing headline downside and pressuring sentiment. Rothschild & Co Redburn adjusts price target on PayPal to $32
• Negative Sentiment: Additional broker downgrades (Truist to $39/sell; Bernstein to $45/Market Perform; Cantor cuts targets) are compounding downward pressure and trimming consensus expectations. Truist lowers PayPal price target
• Negative Sentiment: Active securities probes (Kessler Topaz; Levi & Korsinsky and related filings) tied to the surprise leadership change increase legal and disclosure risk, a key catalyst for extended volatility. Kessler Topaz investigation alert
• Negative Sentiment: Public criticism from former PayPal executives (David Marcus and other commentators) calling out long‑running mismanagement raises reputational and execution concerns—likely to weigh on short‑term sentiment. PayPal Is Running Out of Time, Says Former President (Bloomberg clip)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: EVP Frank Keller sold ~3,478 shares (disclosed) — not huge in absolute terms but contributes to negative optics amid other bad headlines. SEC filing: insider transaction

Institutional Trading of PayPal

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PayPal by 6.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in PayPal by 35.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,160,227 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in PayPal by 1,066.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,106,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $156,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925,583 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at $97,794,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Down 2.4%

The firm has a market cap of $37.28 billion, a PE ratio of 7.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.43. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.75.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 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 analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.