Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group trimmed its PayPal stake by 3.1% in Q4, selling 93,124 shares and ending the period with 2,940,544 shares (about 0.31% of the company) worth roughly $171.7 million.
• News flow is mixed: a new PayPal–Canva integration could boost merchant volume, but multiple securities‑fraud class action filings, reported institutional exits (including Steve Cohen and ClearBridge) and recent insider selling (87,608 shares, ~$3.83M over 90 days) present near‑term headwinds.
• Analysts rate PayPal a consensus "Hold" with an average target of $56.72; the stock trades around $45.27, has a PE of 8.37, and recently missed quarterly EPS ($1.23 vs. $1.29) and revenue estimates, reflecting a mixed outlook.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,940,544 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 93,124 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of PayPal worth $171,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter worth $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 285.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 524 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Dagco Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 1,250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PayPal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal announced PayPal Payment Links integration into Canva, letting 265M monthly users accept payments directly from designs — a distribution and merchant‑onboarding boost that can increase checkout volume and revenue for merchant services. PayPal Brings Payment Links to Canva PayPal Embeds Payment Links Into Canva Designs Zacks: PYPL Adds Payment Links to Canva TipRanks: PayPal Scores Another Big Deal with Canva Blockonomi: PayPal Stock Gains Ground With New Canva Integration
• Positive Sentiment: A small analyst upgrade/coverage note was reported that briefly pushed shares higher (coverage mentioned in AmericanBankingNews). Positive broker chatter can support short‑term momentum. PayPal Stock Up After Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane raised its price target to $43.50 but kept a "neutral" rating — a modest revision that isn't a strong buy signal. MarketScreener: BNP Paribas Adjusts Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and stock interest pieces (Zacks, 247WallSt, TipRanks) highlight that PYPL is widely watched and rated a "hold" by many analysts — signals of mixed expectations rather than clear upside. Zacks: Investors Heavily Search PayPal 247WallSt: Analysts Still Rate PayPal a Hold TipRanks: SOFI vs PYPL
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market/sector stories (crypto moves, social commerce trends, and thematic warns) may influence fintech sentiment but are not PayPal‑specific drivers. Bitcoin Climbs Above $72K Meta Growing Role In Social Commerce 3 Profitable Stocks That Concern Us
• Negative Sentiment: Numerous securities‑fraud class action notices and lead‑plaintiff deadlines were filed and publicized by multiple law firms — heightened legal risk, potential litigation costs and uncertainty often depress investor sentiment. GlobeNewswire: Deadline Alert PR Newswire: Faruqi & Faruqi Reminder Gross Law Firm: Shareholder Alert
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional moves reported: reports that Steve Cohen sold PayPal and that ClearBridge exited PYPL citing turnaround challenges signal reduced confidence from large managers and can add selling pressure. DailyHodl: Steve Cohen Dumps PayPal MSN: ClearBridge Exited PayPal

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares in the company, valued at $50,992.20. The trade was a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,560,563.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,285,484.67. The trade was a 54.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock worth $3,831,535 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PYPL. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $41.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $61.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Argus lowered their price objective on shares of PayPal from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, KGI Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.72.

PayPal Price Performance

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $45.27 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business's fifty day moving average is $44.27 and its 200 day moving average is $56.41. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.50.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. PayPal's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. PayPal's payout ratio is 10.35%.

PayPal Company 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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