National Pension Service Sells 1,390,110 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

National Pension Service lessened its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 48.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,465,787 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,390,110 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in PayPal were worth $85,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PYPL. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 103.1% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 656 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $621,960.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,425,837.66. This represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,373,113.34. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,373 shares of company stock worth $2,684,341. 0.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Compass Point upgraded shares of PayPal from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of PayPal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Argus dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Eight 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.85.

PayPal Stock Up 0.7%

PYPL opened at $44.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.32 and its 200 day moving average is $51.38. The stock has a market cap of $39.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.39.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.51%.

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.