W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Purchases New Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $859,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 valued at $548,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160,227 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $97,794,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,131,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $746,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,365 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 245.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,091,482 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $63,721,000 after purchasing an additional 775,647 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company announces strategic reorganization into three operating units (Checkout & PayPal; Consumer Financial Services & Venmo; Payment Services & Crypto) and five leadership appointments — a simplification intended to speed decision‑making and growth, which investors view as a catalyst to improve execution and unlock value. PayPal Announces Strategic Reorganization to Accelerate Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Venmo is being carved out as a standalone business unit — this increases transparency on Venmo’s performance and raises the possibility of a future sale or strategic partnership, a potential near‑term value catalyst for shareholders. PayPal makes Venmo a separate unit as CEO Lores looks to boost growth
• Positive Sentiment: Market takeover interest and buyer speculation (including reports of Stripe interest) amplify the reorg headlines — separation of Venmo makes asset monetization or targeted deals easier, supporting upside psychology. PayPal to make Venmo separate business, CNBC reports
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership/integration wins: PayPal’s Store Sync integration with BigCommerce expands merchant reach and AI-enabled checkout/discovery channels, supporting merchant revenue opportunities. Commerce Announces Integration of PayPal’s Store Sync to Enable AI-Powered Discovery and Checkout for BigCommerce Merchants
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. Treasury adds PayPal/Venmo as accepted payment options for debt payments — a small but high‑visibility endorsement that can widen transaction flows and brand credibility. U.S. Treasury Taps PayPal (PYPL) to Fight $39 Trillion National Debt
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage and ratings remain mixed — some firms are cautious about PYPL’s near‑term growth and margins even as others highlight valuation; watch upcoming guidance and the first earnings under the new CEO. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Receives a New Rating from BMO Capital
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term earnings pressure: analysts expected Q1 revenue/earnings headwinds (recent quarter missed EPS and revenue estimates), and previews suggest an earnings decline is possible — a risk to sentiment if results or guidance disappoint. Earnings Preview: Paypal (PYPL) Q1 Earnings Expected to Decline
• Negative Sentiment: Structural/competitive concerns: commentary about “agentic” shopping and ad/ID initiatives highlights potential threats and execution risk as PayPal expands into ads and financial services beyond core payments. PayPal Profit Engine Could Be Threatened By Agentic Shopping Revolution

PayPal Stock Up 2.6%

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $50.94 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.66. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.40.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. PayPal’s payout ratio is currently 10.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PYPL. Bank of America upped their price objective on PayPal from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on PayPal from $67.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on PayPal from $50.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded PayPal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

PayPal 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.