Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 70,039 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group cut its PayPal stake by 37.9% in the second quarter, selling 70,039 shares and retaining 114,587 shares valued at approximately $4.95 million. Institutional investors collectively own 68.32% of PayPal.
• Analysts remain broadly cautious, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $55.72, despite several firms raising their targets to between $56 and $70.
• PayPal exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.38 in adjusted earnings per share and $8.68 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 4.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share.

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 37.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,587 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 70,039 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in PayPal were worth $4,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in PayPal by 15,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of PayPal from $46.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus set a $70.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.72.

PayPal Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $60.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.30. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. PayPal's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. PayPal's payout ratio is 10.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $77,679.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,216 shares in the company, valued at $128,749.60. This trade represents a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,612 shares of company stock worth $484,534. Insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

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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