PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson reduced its PayPal position by 34% in the third quarter, selling 23,689 shares and retaining 45,990 shares valued at approximately $2.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 68.32% of PayPal.
• PayPal reported quarterly EPS of $1.45, beating analysts’ $1.31 estimate, while revenue increased 2% year over year to $8.58 billion but fell short of expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $55.94. PayPal also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, representing a 1.0% annualized yield.

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 34.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,990 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 23,689 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its holdings in PayPal by 448.3% during the 3rd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 636 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 552 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.80, for a total value of $30,249.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,400 shares in the company, valued at $131,520. The trade was a 18.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $188,277.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,726,372.76. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,437 shares of company stock valued at $768,417. Insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PYPL opened at $58.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $48.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.05. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $70.35.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.14. PayPal had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The firm had revenue of $8.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. PayPal's revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PYPL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of PayPal from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered PayPal from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PayPal from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Telsey Advisory Group cut PayPal to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on PayPal from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.94.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and businesses to send, receive, and manage money online and through mobile devices. Its services support online checkout, peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, payment processing, invoicing, and other commerce-related transactions.

The company's portfolio includes the PayPal and Venmo brands, Braintree's payment processing technology, and Xoom's international money transfer service. PayPal also offers merchant tools, digital wallets, payment solutions, and consumer financing products through its platform and related services.

PayPal traces its origins to 1998 and became an independent publicly traded company after separating from eBay in 2015.

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