KBC Group NV Sells 90,175 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• KBC Group NV cut its PayPal stake by 7.8%, selling 90,175 shares and leaving it with 1,070,207 shares (about 0.11% of PayPal) valued at roughly $62.48 million.
• Analysts have trimmed ratings and price targets recently (Wells Fargo to $48 with "equal weight", Goldman to $41 with "sell"), leaving a consensus "Hold" and an average target of $56.61.
• Insiders and others have been selling—87,608 insider shares worth $3.83M in the past three months (including sales by the CAO and Suzan Kereere)—while PayPal posted an EPS and revenue miss and faces legal and competitive risks (notably pressure from X Money).

KBC Group NV decreased its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,070,207 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 90,175 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.11% of PayPal worth $62,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 285.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 524 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Dagco Inc. increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 1,250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 545 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on PayPal from $67.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on PayPal from $64.00 to $41.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. HSBC lowered PayPal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on PayPal from $91.00 to $59.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of PayPal 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,992.20. The trade was a 65.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,560,563.37. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,285,484.67. The trade was a 54.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / momentum helped lift the shares as some firms increased ratings or reiterated interest, prompting short-term buying. TipRanks: Why is PayPal (PYPL) Stock Up Today
• Positive Sentiment: Product/transaction growth signal: Venmo expanded its Stash cash-back rewards (up to 5% with new brand partners), which investors view as a credible effort to drive daily spend, engagement and TPV growth. PYMNTS: Venmo Expands Stash Cash-Back Rewards Program
• Positive Sentiment: Bargain-hunting and takeover chatter have supported the bounce — some writeups note acquisition speculation and renewed buyer interest after prior weakness. Invezz: PayPal stock has woken up suddenly
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed: some models show only marginal fair-value movement while price targets vary in the low‑$40s to $50s range, reflecting divergent assumptions on execution and competition. Yahoo Finance: How The Story Around PayPal (PYPL) Is Shifting
• Negative Sentiment: Mizuho downgraded PayPal to Neutral and cut its price target to $50 (from $60), explicitly citing X (Elon Musk’s “X Money”) as a direct threat to Venmo and PayPal’s wallet/peer‑to‑peer franchise — a tangible competitive risk for growth and margins. Blockonomi: PayPal (PYPL) Stock Faces Mizuho Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: multiple securities‑class actions and law‑firm notices (Pomerantz, Rosen, Faruqi, others) surfaced this week, reminding investors of April 20 lead‑plaintiff deadlines and alleging disclosures tied to PayPal’s outlook and branded‑checkout performance — adds headline risk and potential liability. GlobeNewswire: Rosen Law Firm investor notice
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing management/strategy uncertainty and the withdrawal of prior long‑term targets have amplified execution risk concerns cited by analysts and activist/litigation parties. Yahoo Finance: PayPal Lawsuits And CEO Change Raise Questions

PayPal Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $49.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.40. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $44.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.05.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The company's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. PayPal's payout ratio is presently 10.35%.

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.