Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Has $5.29 Million Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,553 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 11,204 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $5,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 1,250.0% during the third quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still see value in the stock, with RBC and Daiwa assigning upbeat ratings, and commentary arguing PayPal may be cheap enough that expectations are already low.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings showed a beat on both EPS and revenue, suggesting the core business is still growing and executing better than expected.
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Hold rating, reflecting a wait-and-see stance rather than a strong bullish or bearish call.
• Negative Sentiment: Macquarie downgraded PayPal to Neutral and cut its price target, citing a softer second-quarter outlook and a cost-saving plan that appears back-end loaded. Macquarie Downgrades PayPal as Cost-Saving Plan Looks Too Back-End Loaded
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America also lowered its price target and kept a Neutral rating, adding to the cautious analyst tone around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority launched a competition probe into PayPal’s wallet funding and usage practices, raising regulatory uncertainty in an important international market. FCA Probe Tests PayPal’s UK Wallet Economics And Growth Narrative
• Negative Sentiment: Several recent articles argue that the market was not impressed by PayPal’s earnings beat, with investors focusing instead on slower growth expectations, competitive pressures, and margin concerns.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer 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, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,560,563.37. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,285,484.67. This represents a 54.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,199 shares of company stock worth $4,294,018. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $45.37 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.75 and a 200-day moving average of $53.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.39.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The company had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. PayPal’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PYPL shares. Robert W. Baird set a $52.00 price objective on PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Loop Capital started coverage on PayPal in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC downgraded PayPal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. KGI Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Dbs Bank raised PayPal to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.42.

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.