North Dakota State Investment Board Purchases Shares of 32,808 PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board initiated a new position in PayPal, buying 32,808 shares worth about $1.9 million in the fourth quarter. Other institutional investors also added to or trimmed positions, and hedge funds now own about 68.32% of the stock.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed: PayPal has an average analyst rating of Hold with a consensus price target of $55.85. Recent analyst moves included RBC maintaining an outperform rating, while others lowered targets and kept neutral views.
• PayPal reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.34 and revenue of $8.35 billion, both above estimates. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, yielding about 1.3% annually.

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 32,808 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,915,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its position in shares of PayPal by 103.1% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 656 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore lowered their target price on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $67.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.85.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total transaction of $1,560,563.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,285,484.67. The trade was a 54.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 94,986 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,904 in the last 90 days. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $44.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.39. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $38.46 and a one year high of $79.50. The company's fifty day moving average is $46.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The business's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. PayPal's payout ratio is 10.51%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PYPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report).

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.