Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Takes Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired nearly 5 million PayPal shares worth approximately $214.5 million, while other major institutions—including BlackRock and Norges Bank—also established or expanded positions. Institutional investors now own 68.32% of PayPal.
• PayPal exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.38 in EPS versus the $1.28 consensus and $8.68 billion in revenue, up 4.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, representing a 0.9% yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: PayPal has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $56.28, despite several analysts raising targets as high as $65. Shares opened at $62.27, with a market capitalization of approximately $53.27 billion.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,967,794 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $214,509,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.58% of PayPal as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in PayPal during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,236,989,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth $949,758,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 67.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,158,554,000 after acquiring an additional 10,356,256 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 227.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $624,364,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the second quarter valued at $283,910,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $50.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.28.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $62.27 on Wednesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $38.46 and a one year high of $79.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.88 and a 200 day moving average of $47.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $53.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.30.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. PayPal's dividend payout ratio is 10.59%.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,749.60. This trade represents a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $196,194.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,768,260.18. This trade represents a 9.99% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 14,774 shares of company stock worth $738,249 over the last quarter. Company 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.

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