Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,203,601 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 19,076 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of PayPal worth $78,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth about $1,086,508,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in PayPal by 108.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,924,106 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,529,823,000 after buying an additional 9,313,783 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in PayPal by 284.0% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,804,334 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $666,100,000 after buying an additional 5,772,198 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,923,662 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,615,134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 124.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,497,415 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $228,206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,520 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at PayPal
In other PayPal news, Director Deborah M. Messemer sold 3,795 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total value of $277,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,020,248. The trade was a 21.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.24, for a total transaction of $304,824.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 48,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,550,894.92. This represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,796 shares of company stock worth $863,028 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
PayPal Trading Up 0.1%
Shares of NASDAQ:PYPL traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $76.41. 5,263,390 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,867,096. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.45. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $71.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.30.
PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.84 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.59% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently issued reports on PYPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $120.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Arete Research set a $81.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Macquarie reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $117.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.42.
Read Our Latest Report on PYPL
PayPal Company Profile
(
Free Report)
PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. It operates a two-sided network at scale that connects merchants and consumers that enables its customers to connect, transact, and send and receive payments through online and in person, as well as transfer and withdraw funds using various funding sources, such as bank accounts, PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products comprising its installment products, credit and debit cards, and cryptocurrencies, as well as other stored value products, including gift cards and eligible rewards.
Further Reading

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