Arvest Bank Trust Division Grows Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Arvest Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 496.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,453 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 96,107 shares during the quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division's holdings in PayPal were worth $5,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth about $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 355.1% in 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 buying an additional 3,875,688 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 143.4% during the 4th 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, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 65.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,123,978 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $231,757,000 after buying an additional 2,035,268 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays upgraded shares of PayPal from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of PayPal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Clear Str raised shares of PayPal to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.61.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal is now viewed as a takeover target, with Stripe and Advent reportedly offering about $60.50 per share; that premium may support the stock as investors speculate on a higher bid or a strategic break-up value. Reuters: How PayPal went from Wall Street favorite to unwilling merger target
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary from analysts and market personalities suggests the offer may be just an opening bid, reinforcing hopes that PayPal could fetch a better valuation if deal talks advance. Benzinga: Chamath Says Stripe's PayPal Deal Is 'a Shot Across the Bow'
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal remains a heavily watched stock as traders assess whether the takeover chatter represents a real catalyst or just speculation around a business that still has a strategic crossroads ahead. Yahoo Finance: PayPal Holdings, Inc. Is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street’s near-term earnings setup is cautious, with analysts expecting second-quarter EPS to decline modestly, which could limit upside if the company fails to deliver a beat. Zacks: Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Longer-term concerns remain that PayPal has lost momentum versus rivals like Apple Pay, which helps explain why some investors see the company as a pressured turnaround story despite the takeover interest. Economic Times: How PayPal went from Wall Street favorite to unwilling merger target

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total value of $196,194.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,260.18. The trade was a 9.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,325,762.57. The trade was a 9.83% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

PayPal Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $55.85 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $45.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.11. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50. The company has a market cap of $49.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. PayPal's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.51%.

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.

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