Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lessened its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 9.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 150,926 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 15,647 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $6,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,236,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in PayPal in the second quarter worth approximately $975,563,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $949,758,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in PayPal during the second quarter valued at approximately $422,092,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the second quarter worth approximately $20,758,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $52.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.29. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $77,679.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,749.60. The trade was a 37.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total transaction of $253,715.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,723.68. This represents a 11.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,774 shares of company stock valued at $738,249. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $43.50 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.03.

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.