Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 86,588 PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors initiated a PayPal position by purchasing 86,588 shares worth approximately $3.74 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 68.32% of PayPal’s shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $56.28, despite several firms raising targets and Jefferies upgrading the stock to “Buy.”
• PayPal exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.38 in EPS and $8.68 billion in revenue, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, equivalent to a 0.9% annualized yield.

Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 86,588 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,739,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 41.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the period. United Bank increased its position in PayPal by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 4,974 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in PayPal by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,909 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $43.50 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.28.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal and Venmo are expanding into higher-education tuition payments through integrations with Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet. The services are already available at schools including Michigan State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Butler and Bellarmine, potentially increasing transaction volume and everyday use of PayPal’s wallets. PayPal and Venmo Expand to Tuition Payments
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Stripe and Advent International have renewed interest in a potential PayPal transaction are supporting the shares by reinforcing takeover speculation. However, no deal has been announced, so this remains a potential catalyst rather than a confirmed development. PayPal Buyout Talks Resurface
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $59 while maintaining a Neutral rating, indicating greater recognition of potential value beyond PayPal’s checkout business. Piper Sandler Raises PayPal Price Target

Insider Activity

In other PayPal news, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $42,529.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,042.70. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $77,679.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,749.60. This represents a 37.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,774 shares of company stock worth $738,249. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $61.25 on Thursday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $52.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.30.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.59%.

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.

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.

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