PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Acquired by SG Americas Securities LLC

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its PayPal stake by 355.1% in the first quarter, ending with 4,967,170 shares valued at about $224.7 million.
• PayPal reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $1.34 beating estimates and revenue of $8.35 billion topping expectations; revenue also rose 7.2% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, payable June 25, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold” with an average price target of $55.85.

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 355.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,967,170 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,875,688 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.55% of PayPal worth $224,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in 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 valued at $1,874,637,000 after buying an additional 636,441 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at $949,758,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in PayPal by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $713,158,000 after buying an additional 1,083,843 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $42.51 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.17. The stock has a market cap of $37.50 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.34. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.50. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The company had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. PayPal's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. PayPal's payout ratio is currently 10.51%.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $196,194.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,768,260.18. This trade represents a 9.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,443.56. The trade was a 45.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. Insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on PYPL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Eight 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.85.

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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