PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.63 and traded as high as $56.63. PayPal shares last traded at $56.09, with a volume of 19,287,144 shares traded.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.45 per share, above the $1.31 analyst consensus, and raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook. Management also indicated that expected holiday-quarter profit should exceed Wall Street expectations. PayPal raises 2026 profit forecast as turnaround gains traction
• Positive Sentiment: Payment volume rose 6% to $487.1 billion, supported by higher transaction activity and strong Venmo growth. The company also highlighted operating-margin expansion, cost controls and a goal of achieving approximately $700 million in savings by year-end. PayPal’s Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Venmo Growth, TPV Rises
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns provided additional support, with PayPal repurchasing roughly $1.5 billion of stock and announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.14. PayPal Holdings Stock Rises on Strong Payment Growth, Buybacks and Dividend News
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief Executive Enrique Lores emphasized that PayPal’s standalone turnaround is gaining traction, while reports said he acknowledged takeover discussions but continues to favor executing the independent-company plan. Needham maintained a “hold” rating and BTIG reaffirmed “neutral.” PayPal CEO Confirms Offer Talks But Bets on the Standalone Plan
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue increased only 2% year over year to $8.58 billion, below the $8.71 billion consensus, while merchant volume also missed expectations. Investors remain concerned that branded checkout is not growing, raising questions about competition, pricing pressure and the pace of PayPal’s recovery. PayPal Just Raised Its Profit Forecast, and the Stock Barely Moved. Here’s Why
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted net income reportedly declined 3%, and some investors viewed the weaker core checkout trends and cautious near-term growth outlook as outweighing the earnings beat. This explains why PYPL’s reaction was muted despite higher guidance.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on PayPal from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on PayPal from $48.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.56.

PayPal Stock Up 2.0%

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.05.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $8.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 552 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total transaction of $30,249.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,520. This trade represents a 18.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.43, for a total value of $255,643.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,304,058.81. This represents a 9.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 12,705 shares of company stock worth $727,886 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the second quarter worth $3,236,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in PayPal by 67.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,158,554,000 after purchasing an additional 10,356,256 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in PayPal by 227.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $624,364,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,488 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in PayPal in the second quarter valued at $422,092,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at $20,758,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Company Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and businesses to send, receive, and manage money online and through mobile devices. Its services support online checkout, peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, payment processing, invoicing, and other commerce-related transactions.

The company’s portfolio includes the PayPal and Venmo brands, Braintree’s payment processing technology, and Xoom’s international money transfer service. PayPal also offers merchant tools, digital wallets, payment solutions, and consumer financing products through its platform and related services.

PayPal traces its origins to 1998 and became an independent publicly traded company after separating from eBay in 2015.