Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group raised its PayPal stake by 3% in Q4 and now owns 1,162,303 shares worth about $67.9 million (≈0.12% of the company).
• PayPal beat Q1 estimates with $1.34 EPS (vs. $1.27) and $8.35B revenue (vs. $8.05B) and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 (annualized yield ≈1.2%).
• Management disclosed ~20% job cuts (~4,760 roles) and a $1.5B cost‑savings plan, while analysts have issued downgrades and the UK FCA opened a competition probe, raising near‑term execution and regulatory risks.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,162,303 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,496 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of PayPal worth $67,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PYPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,855,897 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $191,516,000 after purchasing an additional 51,268 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 7.9% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,292,583 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $291,338,000 after purchasing an additional 313,180 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth about $13,210,000. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal by 47.8% during the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 411,262 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,579,000 after purchasing an additional 132,942 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support includes upgrades and higher targets from some shops (Daiwa upgrade; Cantor Fitzgerald raised target to $54; RBC reaffirmed Outperform with $59), giving upside conviction for value‑oriented investors. Daiwa upgrade Cantor Fitzgerald raise RBC reaffirmation
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal beat Q1 consensus on EPS and revenue, showing resilient top‑line payment volume growth despite margin pressure — supporting the turnaround narrative if cost saves and execution follow through. Q1 beat / valuation write‑up
• Neutral Sentiment: Management is rolling out an AI‑focused reorg (ads ID, Store Sync, three business units) that could lift merchant monetization long term but will take time to materialize. AI reset/reorg
• Neutral Sentiment: Company announced a small quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~1.2%), a modestly positive sign for income investors but unlikely to change growth narrative. Dividend announcement
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulator (FCA) opened a competition probe into PayPal, Visa and Mastercard over digital wallet funding and usage — a material regulatory risk in a key international market that can affect wallet economics and merchant relationships. FCA probe EPI coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and price‑target cuts (Macquarie cut to Neutral/$50; Bank of America trimmed its PT to $53; Goldman lowered to $40) reflect investor concern about back‑loaded cost savings and weak Q2 outlook. Macquarie downgrade BofA trim Goldman cut
• Negative Sentiment: Management announced ~20% job cuts (~4,760 roles) and a $1.5bn cost‑savings program; investors worry savings are back‑loaded and guidance was downgraded, prompting skepticism on near‑term earnings. Layoffs / cost saves TipRanks on cuts

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL stock opened at $46.22 on Friday. 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 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.99.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The firm's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. PayPal's payout ratio is presently 10.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PYPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KGI Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $52.00 price target on PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. HSBC downgraded PayPal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded PayPal from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.42.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In related news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,443.56. This trade represents a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total transaction of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,687.32. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,199 shares of company stock valued at $4,294,018. 0.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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