VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes $12.34 Million Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 285,700 PayPal shares worth approximately $12.34 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of PayPal’s outstanding stock.
• PayPal exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.38 in earnings per share and $8.68 billion in revenue, with revenue up 4.8% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $56.03, while PayPal announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 285,700 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,337,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 4,036.2% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 55,904,110 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,413,939,000 after acquiring an additional 54,552,522 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,278,000. Saudi Central Bank increased its holdings in PayPal by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 1,013,623 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $43,768,000 after purchasing an additional 27,019 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new position in PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at $143,000. Finally, NBH Bank bought a new position in PayPal in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PYPL opened at $54.96 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $55.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.28. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. PayPal had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 14.36%.The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Frank Keller sold 732 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $42,529.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,042.70. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total transaction of $253,715.52. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,888,723.68. This represents a 11.84% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,231 shares of company stock valued at $373,924. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PYPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised PayPal from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Telsey Advisory Group cut PayPal to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of PayPal from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Argus set a $70.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.03.

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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