Easterly Investment Partners LLC Purchases 88,151 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its PayPal stake by 705.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 88,151 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 100,651 shares valued at about $5.9 million.
• PayPal reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.34 versus estimates of $1.27 and revenue of $8.35 billion, up 7.2% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, while analysts remain cautious overall with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.85.

Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 705.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,651 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 88,151 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC's holdings in PayPal were worth $5,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in PayPal by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 41.5% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 40.1% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $44.75 on Monday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.50. 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 market capitalization of $39.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.28.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. PayPal's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 1,140 shares in the company, valued at $50,992.20. This trade represents a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $621,960.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,425,837.66. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 57,373 shares of company stock worth $2,684,341 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PYPL. Bank of America dropped their price target on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on PayPal from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wolfe Research reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on PayPal from $41.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Eight 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.85.

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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