PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Acquired by Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C.

Key Points

• Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its PayPal stake by 78% in the first quarter, buying 39,957 additional shares and bringing its total to 91,212 shares worth about $4.52 million.
• PayPal reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $1.34 versus the $1.27 estimate and revenue of $8.35 billion, up 7.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, while insider selling continued and analysts maintained a cautious outlook with a consensus Hold rating.

Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. grew its position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 78.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,212 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 39,957 shares during the period. PayPal comprises 1.6% of Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C.'s holdings in PayPal were worth $4,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PayPal by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,874,637,000 after purchasing an additional 636,441 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $949,758,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in PayPal by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $713,158,000 after buying an additional 1,083,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in PayPal by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,803,241 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $513,966,000 after buying an additional 625,705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company's stock.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $42.34 on Tuesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business's fifty day moving average is $45.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.03.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. PayPal's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $196,194.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,768,260.18. This represents a 9.99% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PYPL shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on PayPal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.85.

PayPal 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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