Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases Shares of 48,088 PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management acquired 48,088 PayPal shares worth approximately $2.08 million, while institutional investors collectively own 68.32% of the company.
• PayPal reported quarterly EPS of $1.38, beating estimates by $0.10, and revenue of $8.68 billion, up 4.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, yielding about 0.9% annually.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $56.28 price target. PayPal shares opened at $61.68, above the consensus target, while insiders have sold 14,774 shares worth $738,249 over the past 90 days.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 48,088 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,076,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PYPL. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in PayPal by 15,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC purchased a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $77,679.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,216 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $128,749.60. The trade was a 37.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total value of $253,715.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,888,723.68. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,774 shares of company stock worth $738,249. 0.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $61.68 on Tuesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.62. The company has a market cap of $52.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PYPL shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $43.50 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on PayPal from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on PayPal from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.28.

PayPal Company Profile

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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