Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Purchases 15,343 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 777,490 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,343 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $52,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. National Pension Service raised its holdings in PayPal by 1.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 164,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,058,000 after purchasing an additional 22,139 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth $13,210,000. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 347.0% in the third quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 193,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,949,000 after purchasing an additional 149,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PYPL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on PayPal from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on PayPal from $64.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus lowered their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of PayPal from $70.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $42.00 price objective (down from $100.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.03.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal has been included in Mastercard’s new crypto partner program alongside firms like Binance and Ripple, which supports its PYUSD/stablecoin and payments roadmap and could help revenue diversification if partnerships scale. Binance, Ripple, PayPal join Mastercard’s 85+ partner crypto initiative
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation looks attractive to some investors and analysts: recent coverage highlights a low P/E and price targets above current levels, which can attract value buyers if execution stabilizes. Why PayPal’s Rally Faded—And What Could Restart It
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro and crypto market moves are creating mixed flows: regulatory alignment between the CFTC and SEC and episodic crypto volatility are shaping sentiment for payments/crypto plays like PayPal. This is a backdrop rather than an immediate company-specific catalyst. Crypto Currents: CFTC affirms crypto oversight alignment with SEC
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities class-action filings and numerous law‑firm alerts allege PayPal misled investors about growth and guidance (class period cited Feb 25, 2025–Feb 2, 2026). Firms are soliciting lead‑plaintiff motions with an April 20, 2026 deadline — this litigation wave increases legal risk, potential costs, and investor uncertainty. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Faces Securities Class Action Amid $9 Billion Market Cap Wipeout, CEO Departure — Hagens Berman
• Negative Sentiment: Competition and management turnover remain immediate execution risks: coverage notes weak Feb results, cautious guidance, and the CEO departure — all drivers behind the recent selloff and continued skepticism until clear operational improvement is shown. Why PayPal’s Rally Faded—And What Could Restart It
• Negative Sentiment: High-profile commentary suggests competitive pressure from other payment/fintech platforms and actions by industry figures (e.g., Elon Musk) could further compress PayPal’s growth in key consumer/payment corridors. Elon Musk just made things uncomfortable for PayPal and Cash App

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares in the company, valued at $50,992.20. This trade represents a 65.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL opened at $44.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $41.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.43. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is presently 10.35%.

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.