PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Key Points

• Kornitzer Capital Management cut its PayPal position by 70.3% in the first quarter, selling 182,989 shares and leaving it with 77,394 shares worth about $3.5 million.
• PayPal’s latest earnings topped expectations, with $1.34 EPS on $8.35 billion in revenue, and the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share.
• Wall Street remains cautious overall: analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, and recent commentary highlighted mixed sentiment, including a strong sell call from Barclays and the stock’s roughly 22% year-to-date decline.

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 70.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,394 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 182,989 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in PayPal were worth $3,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Diversified Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in PayPal by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Investment Strategies LLC now owns 79,115 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,652 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 247.5% during the first quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 91,639 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,145,000 after purchasing an additional 65,267 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 0.5% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 96,528 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,366,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 11.1% during the first quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 34,636 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,463 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 0.6% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 286,554 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $12,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts say PayPal still has support from rising payment volumes, Venmo growth, and ongoing technology upgrades, which could help long-term earnings and transaction growth. Is PYPL Stock Worth Retaining in Your Portfolio for the Long Run?
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin launching natively on Polygon is boosting interest in the company’s digital assets strategy and could strengthen its payments ecosystem over time. PayPal boosts its stablecoin as banks prepare to launch a shared one
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles note conflicting analyst views on PayPal, suggesting the stock still has divided Wall Street support rather than a clear consensus. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Financial Companies: American Express (AXP), Robinhood (HOOD) and PayPal Holdings (PYPL)
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal is still being viewed as a value stock by some investors, but commentary suggests the turnaround is not complete and the market remains cautious on execution. 2 Value Stocks for Long-Term Investors and 1 We Avoid
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays reportedly upgraded PayPal to “strong sell,” reinforcing concerns about near-term pressure and helping explain the stock’s weaker performance trend. Zacks.com
• Negative Sentiment: TipRanks noted PayPal is down nearly 22% year to date, reflecting investor skepticism about the pace of its turnaround and ongoing competitive/macro risks. PayPal (PYPL) Stock Is Down 22% YTD; Let’s Look at Who Owns the Stock?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of PayPal from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday. They set an "underweight" rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 is accessible through 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 the firm's 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 transaction, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623. Insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

PayPal Price Performance

PayPal stock traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.32. The company had a trading volume of 10,627,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,801,931. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $44.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.48. 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 current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $40.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33.

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, 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 business had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 10.51%.

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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