Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Shares in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 107,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,858,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,276,205,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534,462 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,874,637,000 after purchasing an additional 636,441 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $949,758,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in PayPal by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $713,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in PayPal by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,803,241 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $513,966,000 after purchasing an additional 625,705 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total transaction of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,076,687.32. This trade represents a 20.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% 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 three months, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on PayPal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.85.

PayPal Stock Up 4.5%

PayPal stock opened at $44.29 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 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $45.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.58. The firm has a market cap of $39.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.34.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.