United Bank Takes Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

United Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in PayPal by 15,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Trading Up 1.4%

PYPL stock opened at $61.25 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.30. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $38.46 and a one year high of $79.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.35. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. PayPal’s payout ratio is currently 10.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $77,679.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,749.60. The trade was a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $42,529.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,042.70. This trade represents a 1.73% 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. Insiders sold 14,774 shares of company stock valued at $738,249 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal and Venmo are expanding into higher-education tuition payments through integrations with Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet. The services are already available at schools including Michigan State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Butler and Bellarmine, potentially increasing transaction volume and everyday use of PayPal’s wallets. PayPal and Venmo Expand to Tuition Payments
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Stripe and Advent International have renewed interest in a potential PayPal transaction are supporting the shares by reinforcing takeover speculation. However, no deal has been announced, so this remains a potential catalyst rather than a confirmed development. PayPal Buyout Talks Resurface
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $59 while maintaining a Neutral rating, indicating greater recognition of potential value beyond PayPal’s checkout business. Piper Sandler Raises PayPal Price Target

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PYPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Clear Str raised shares of PayPal to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on PayPal from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on PayPal from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.28.

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.