LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Sells 152,800 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management cut its PayPal stake by 80.5%, selling 152,800 shares in Q3 and leaving it with 37,000 shares worth $2.466 million.
• PayPal missed Q4 estimates (EPS $1.23 vs. $1.29; revenue $8.68B vs. $8.82B) and faces mounting headwinds from rising insider selling, increased short interest and analyst downgrades, plus active securities class‑action filings.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 (annualized yield ~1.2%), while shares trade near $46.98 with a market cap of about $43.3 billion and a P/E of 8.68.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 80.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 152,800 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in PayPal by 3.3% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 615,292 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,501,000 after acquiring an additional 19,408 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 5.6% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 536,565 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $37,388,000 after purchasing an additional 28,685 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 127,321 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $8,538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 8,944 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 74.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 128,631 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $8,963,000 after purchasing an additional 54,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Concrete PYUSD use case: PayPal’s partnership to enable digital‑asset settlement of freight invoices with TCS Blockchain gives PYUSD a real B2B payments application that could add transaction volume and fee opportunities. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Stablecoin narrative supports adoption: industry reports show the stablecoin market concentrating around a few players, highlighting PYUSD’s growing relevance vs. smaller alternatives. This supports PayPal’s strategic push into tokenized payments. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage with limited upside: Bank of America started coverage with a "neutral" rating and a $48 target, signaling attention but only modest upside from current levels. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Re‑rating / valuation debate: Multiple market writeups are re‑evaluating PayPal after the share reset — this keeps the stock in focus and boosts trading volume but produces mixed buy/hold views. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal overhang — several law firms have filed or solicited plaintiffs for securities class actions alleging PayPal misled investors about growth and guidance; lead‑plaintiff deadlines (April 20, 2026) intensify litigation risk and potential settlement costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Several senior executives have disclosed sizable sales (EVP Frank Keller, CAO Chris Natali and others), which investors often interpret as a near‑term negative signal. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rising and recent downgrades: Reports show increased short interest and fresh downgrades / cautious price targets following PayPal’s Q4 revenue and EPS miss, which remain central to the bearish case. Read More. • Read More.

PayPal Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $46.98 on Monday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $79.50. The stock has a market cap of $43.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $50.26 and a 200-day moving average of $60.53.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. PayPal's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal's payout ratio is presently 10.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,992.20. This trade represents a 65.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut PayPal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PayPal from $60.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of PayPal from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.03.

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.

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