Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Trims Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS decreased its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 70.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,394 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 182,989 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in PayPal were worth $3,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 355.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,967,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $224,665,000 after purchasing an additional 3,875,688 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 143.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,089,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $297,130,000 after buying an additional 2,998,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 261.5% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,291,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $133,761,000 after buying an additional 1,657,458 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Stock Up 2.2%

PayPal stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $46.32. 10,627,517 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,801,931. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.50. The firm has a market cap of $40.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.48.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The company had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.51%.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts say PayPal still has support from rising payment volumes, Venmo growth, and ongoing technology upgrades, which could help long-term earnings and transaction growth. Is PYPL Stock Worth Retaining in Your Portfolio for the Long Run?
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin launching natively on Polygon is boosting interest in the company’s digital assets strategy and could strengthen its payments ecosystem over time. PayPal boosts its stablecoin as banks prepare to launch a shared one
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles note conflicting analyst views on PayPal, suggesting the stock still has divided Wall Street support rather than a clear consensus. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Financial Companies: American Express (AXP), Robinhood (HOOD) and PayPal Holdings (PYPL)
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal is still being viewed as a value stock by some investors, but commentary suggests the turnaround is not complete and the market remains cautious on execution. 2 Value Stocks for Long-Term Investors and 1 We Avoid
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays reportedly upgraded PayPal to “strong sell,” reinforcing concerns about near-term pressure and helping explain the stock’s weaker performance trend. Zacks.com
• Negative Sentiment: TipRanks noted PayPal is down nearly 22% year to date, reflecting investor skepticism about the pace of its turnaround and ongoing competitive/macro risks. PayPal (PYPL) Stock Is Down 22% YTD; Let’s Look at Who Owns the Stock?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PYPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho reissued 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. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

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.