Panagora Asset Management Inc. Purchases 170,485 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 33.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 675,382 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 170,485 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of PayPal worth $39,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Maia Wealth LLC increased its position in PayPal by 2.5% in the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC increased its position in PayPal by 2.9% in the third quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN increased its position in PayPal by 0.3% in the third quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN now owns 56,934 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,818,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in PayPal by 0.7% in the third quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,043 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,679,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC increased its position in PayPal by 6.2% in the third quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Michael Burry increased his PayPal position, which investors are interpreting as a vote of confidence in the stock’s long-term upside. PYPL Stock Climbs Overnight: Michael Burry Adds To PayPal Bet, Says ‘The Body Has Yet To Show’
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal continues to screen as a cheap value stock, with commentary pointing to aggressive share repurchases, solid free cash flow generation, and a valuation around 8x earnings, all of which can attract bargain hunters. PayPal Trades at Less Than 8X Earnings. Is This a Bargain or a Value Trap?
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal is drawing increased trader attention and social-media discussion, but the move appears driven more by speculation and valuation debate than by a fresh company-specific operating update. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators still see major risks, including slower growth, competitive pressure in digital payments, and uncertainty following the CEO shake-up, which keeps the bullish case from being clear-cut.

Insider Activity at PayPal

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.85.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $42.49 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.46 and a 12-month high of $79.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.34.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.51%.

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.