Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Sells 117,928 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP reduced its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. by 6.8%, selling 117,928 shares, and now owns approximately 1.6% of the company.
• Several large institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, have increased their stakes in PayPal, indicating strong interest in the stock.
• PayPal shares are currently trading at around $69.38, reflecting a 1.8% decline recently, with a market capitalization of $66.28 billion.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP lessened its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,616,948 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 117,928 shares during the period. PayPal comprises approximately 1.6% of Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP owned approximately 0.17% of PayPal worth $105,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,221,849 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,625,976,000 after purchasing an additional 276,339 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in PayPal by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,529,823,000 after acquiring an additional 9,313,783 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in PayPal by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,238,218 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $733,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798,330 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in PayPal by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,462,251 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $892,953,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669,908 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in PayPal by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,516,070 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $620,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 7,102 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total value of $492,523.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 3,795 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total value of $277,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,020,248. The trade was a 21.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,736 shares of company stock valued at $1,620,835 in the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PayPal Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of PYPL opened at $69.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $66.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.64 and a 200 day moving average of $71.07. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.85 and a 52-week high of $93.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.10. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.35% and a net margin of 14.49%. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PYPL shares. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $75.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Macquarie restated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $85.00.

PayPal Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. It operates a two-sided network at scale that connects merchants and consumers that enables its customers to connect, transact, and send and receive payments through online and in person, as well as transfer and withdraw funds using various funding sources, such as bank accounts, PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products comprising its installment products, credit and debit cards, and cryptocurrencies, as well as other stored value products, including gift cards and eligible rewards.

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