LPL Financial LLC Lowers Stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC reduced its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. by selling 38,364 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.10% of the company, valued at about $63.15 million.
• PayPal's stock is currently valued at $68.76, down 1.4%, with a market capitalization of $65.69 billion and a P/E ratio of 14.69.
• Insider transactions revealed that company executives, including EVP Diego Scotti, sold shares, resulting in a cumulative sale of 11,796 shares valued at approximately $863,028 over the last quarter.

LPL Financial LLC lessened its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 975,153 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 38,364 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.10% of PayPal worth $63,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,529,823,000 after acquiring an additional 9,313,783 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,615,134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161,582 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of PayPal by 124.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,497,415 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $228,206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,520 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of PayPal by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,462,251 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $892,953,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669,908 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $140,164,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PYPL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $75.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.57.

PayPal Trading Down 2.4%

PayPal stock traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.11. The stock had a trading volume of 15,163,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,875,645. The stock has a market cap of $64.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.42. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.85 and a 52 week high of $93.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.41.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.08 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.49% and a return on equity of 25.35%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.24, for a total transaction of $304,824.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 48,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,550,894.92. The trade was a 7.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.12, for a total transaction of $265,282.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,989 shares in the company, valued at $1,174,279.68. The trade was a 18.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,736 shares of company stock worth $1,620,835. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.