Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 1,440,938 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its PayPal stake by 93% in the first quarter, selling 1.44 million shares and leaving it with 108,579 shares worth about $4.9 million.
• Several PayPal insiders sold shares recently, including Suzan Kereere and Chris Natali, with insiders selling 20,612 shares worth $966,623 over the last three months.
• PayPal beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $1.34 EPS on $8.35 billion in revenue, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $55.01 target price.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 93.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,579 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,440,938 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in PayPal were worth $4,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Maia Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.5% in the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC raised its position in PayPal by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 3,564 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Element Pointe Advisors LLC raised its position in PayPal by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Element Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 4,162 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,443.56. This trade represents a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PYPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Monday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of PayPal from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.01.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL stock opened at $44.38 on Tuesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $38.46 and a one year high of $79.50. The firm has a market cap of $39.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.34. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.38.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. On average, equities 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 was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal's payout ratio 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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