PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Purchased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings increased its PayPal stake by 44.3% in the fourth quarter, adding 908,686 shares and bringing its total holding to 2,958,644 shares worth about $172.9 million.
• PayPal reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.34 versus estimates of $1.27 and revenue of $8.35 billion versus expectations of $8.05 billion, while revenue rose 7.2% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious overall: PayPal has an average Hold rating and a consensus price target of $55.85, while the stock recently traded at $42.51, below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 44.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,958,644 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 908,686 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.32% of PayPal worth $172,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on PYPL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upgraded PayPal from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.85.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $42.51 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $37.50 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.27. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,762.57. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total value of $196,194.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,768,260.18. The trade was 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 quarter, insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623. 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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