Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Raises Stock Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its PayPal stake by 5.5% in the first quarter, bringing holdings to 406,803 shares valued at about $18.4 million.
• PayPal has been buoyed by takeover speculation, with reports that Stripe and Advent International approached the company with a $53 billion bid, and by a Truist Securities upgrade from Sell to Hold with a higher $57 price target.
• The stock remains under close watch ahead of earnings, with analysts focused on TPV growth, margins, competition, and valuation; PayPal recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates and continues to trade at a relatively low about 11x earnings multiple.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 406,803 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,186 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in PayPal were worth $18,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in PayPal by 15,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in PayPal in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new position in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist Securities upgraded PayPal from Sell to Hold and raised its price target to $57 from $44, signaling improved confidence in the stock and helping sentiment around PYPL. Article: Benzinga report on Truist upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Stripe and Advent International have approached PayPal with a $53 billion takeover bid have fueled speculation that PYPL could be worth more in a deal, boosting investor interest. Article: Yahoo Finance takeover report
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in about an 8.8% swing around next week’s earnings, indicating elevated expectations and potential volatility rather than a clear directional view. Article: TipRanks earnings volatility report
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts say investors are focused on TPV growth, platform expansion, margins, and competition heading into earnings, with macro uncertainty still clouding the outlook. Article: Zacks preview
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal remains a low-valuation name by market standards, with investors noting its roughly 11x earnings multiple and ongoing share repurchases as support for long-term value. Article: 24/7 Wall St. valuation note

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of PayPal from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 29th. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Loop Capital began coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "hold" rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PayPal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.96.

PayPal Stock Up 0.3%

PayPal stock opened at $56.15 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $45.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.14. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.46 and a 1-year high of $79.50. The company has a market cap of $49.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.51%.

Insider Activity

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 value of $66,128.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at $78,443.56. This trade represents a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $144,587.41. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% 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. Insiders sold 20,612 shares of company stock worth $966,623 in the last 90 days. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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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