Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $15.60 Million Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden increased its PayPal stake by 51.4% in the first quarter, ending with 344,990 shares valued at about $15.6 million.
• PayPal reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.34 versus $1.27 expected and revenue of $8.35 billion versus $8.05 billion expected. Revenue rose 7.2% year over year.
• Several analysts remain cautious: the stock has a consensus Hold rating and an average target price of $55.01, even as PayPal also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 51.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 344,990 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 117,050 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in PayPal were worth $15,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in PayPal by 15,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,443.56. This represents a 45.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 10,732 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total value of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,076,687.32. This represents a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL stock opened at $45.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.00. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal's dividend payout ratio is 10.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PYPL. Zacks Research raised PayPal from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.01.

Trending Headlines about PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal joined the European Payments Council, a move that could strengthen its role in shaping European payment rules and support long-term growth in the region. PayPal Stock (PYPL) Pops 3% on Joining EU Payments Council
• Positive Sentiment: Additional coverage highlighted PayPal’s EPC membership as a strategic step toward influencing the future of European payments and instant-transfer infrastructure. PayPal Secures EPC Seat to Help Guide Future of European Payments
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual options activity included cheap out-of-the-money July 10 calls in PYPL, suggesting speculative trading interest rather than a clear fundamental catalyst. Five July 4th Fireworks: Unusual Options Activity Flags Cheap Lottery-Ticket Calls in CHWY, AVGO, PYPL, STLA and WMT
• Neutral Sentiment: A shareholder litigation firm said it is investigating PayPal’s officers and directors for possible fiduciary-duty issues, but this is only an early-stage legal probe and not a formal case. Kuehn Law Encourages Investors of PayPal Holdings, Inc. to Contact Law Firm

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.