Erste Asset Management GmbH Has $762,000 Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH cut its PayPal stake by 89.9% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 12,761 shares valued at about $762,000.
• PayPal reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, with EPS of $1.34 versus the $1.27 estimate and revenue of $8.35 billion, up 7.2% from a year earlier.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, while analysts overall still rate the stock a Hold with a consensus price target of $55.85.

Erste Asset Management GmbH reduced its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 89.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,761 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 113,154 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in PayPal were worth $762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 during the fourth quarter worth $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its stake in PayPal by 40.1% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 4,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 17.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,909 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total transaction of $536,170.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,687.32. This trade represents a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623. Insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $40.70 on Thursday. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.50. The stock has a market cap of $35.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $45.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.12.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued 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 yield of 1.4%. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PYPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on PayPal from $50.00 to $32.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.85.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal announced a new embedded payments partnership with Shopware, launching Shopware Payments and expanding PayPal checkout options for merchants. This could help broaden PayPal’s reach across ecommerce platforms and support future payment volume growth. Shopware Payments Deepens PayPal’s Embedded Reach As Valuation Gap Widens
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal also highlighted consumer spending research showing 44% of Canadian shoppers would cut everyday expenses to fund summer soccer-related spending, reinforcing its visibility into spending behavior and potentially supporting payment activity around major events. Goal vs. Going Out: New PayPal Poll shows 44% of Canadians surveyed would sideline everyday spending for summer soccer
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary indicated PayPal continues to be viewed as a “Hold”, suggesting investors remain cautious and are waiting for clearer evidence of sustained growth or margin improvement. PayPal Holdings, Inc. NASDAQ: PYPL Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage noted PayPal’s stock has been declining more than the broader market, reflecting ongoing investor concern despite the company’s solid earnings history and low valuation. Paypal (PYPL) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Another article argued PayPal may be shifting from a growth story to a deep-value play, which can signal that the market still doubts a near-term reacceleration in growth. PayPal: Goodbye Growth, Hello Deep Value

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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