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

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s stock price dropped 2.4% during 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. Approximately 21,474,677 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 24,549,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.49.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on PYPL. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.03.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other PayPal news, EVP Frank Keller sold 3,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.20, for a total transaction of $139,815.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,072,993.40. This trade represents a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,022.72. This represents a 11.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

PayPal News Summary

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. National Pension Service raised its stake in PayPal by 1.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,855,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $191,516,000 after acquiring an additional 51,268 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 164,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,058,000 after purchasing an additional 22,139 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,292,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $291,338,000 after purchasing an additional 313,180 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,210,000. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd boosted its position in PayPal by 347.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 193,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,949,000 after purchasing an additional 149,898 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.32 and a 200 day moving average of $63.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.43.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The business’s quarterly 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. Equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.35%.

About PayPal

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.