PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Purchased by Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Greatmark Investment Partners increased its PayPal stake by 28.2% in the first quarter, buying 89,931 more shares and bringing its total to 409,365 shares valued at about $18.5 million.
• Analysts remain cautious overall on PayPal, with the stock carrying a Hold consensus rating and an average price target of $55.01, though some firms recently raised or cut their outlooks.
• PayPal reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, but the stock was still trading around $45.09, below its 200-day moving average and far under its 52-week high.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 28.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 409,365 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 89,931 shares during the period. PayPal comprises about 2.2% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in PayPal were worth $18,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in PayPal by 2.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,874,637,000 after acquiring an additional 636,441 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter worth about $949,758,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in PayPal by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,215,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $713,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,843 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in PayPal by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,803,241 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $513,966,000 after acquiring an additional 625,705 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PYPL. Bank of America dropped their price target on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded PayPal from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded PayPal from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on PayPal from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.01.

PayPal Stock Down 0.8%

PYPL opened at $45.09 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $44.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $39.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.46 and a 12 month high of $79.50.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.51%.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the company's 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 approximately $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total transaction of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $78,443.56. This trade represents a 45.74% 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. Insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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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