Bastion Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Bastion Asset Management cut its PayPal stake by 74.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 127,917 shares and leaving it with 42,842 shares valued at about $2.56 million.
• PayPal recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.34 versus $1.27 expected and revenue of $8.35 billion versus $8.05 billion expected, with revenue up 7.2% year over year.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: the stock has a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $55.85, while PayPal also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share.

Bastion Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 74.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,842 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 127,917 shares during the quarter. PayPal makes up about 1.4% of Bastion Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Bastion Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter worth $30,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter worth $30,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 103.1% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 656 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PYPL. UBS Group lifted their price target on PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Dbs Bank upgraded PayPal to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $52.00 price objective on PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.85.

PayPal Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $43.83 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $46.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.57. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.46 and a 12-month high of $79.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.39. 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 (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,992.20. This trade represents a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,373 shares of company stock worth $2,684,341. Insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

PayPal Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.