WP Advisors LLC Acquires 21,235 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• WP Advisors LLC increased its PayPal stake by 19.7%, acquiring 21,235 shares to hold 129,046 shares worth $7.534 million, making PYPL ~1.9% of the firm's portfolio and its 17th largest holding.
• Several large institutions — including Capital Research Global Investors, Invesco, Amundi and Dimensional Fund Advisors — also boosted positions in PayPal, with institutional investors now owning 68.32% of the stock.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently: EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares and insiders sold 87,608 shares (about $3.83 million) over the last 90 days, leaving insiders with just 0.63% ownership.

WP Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 129,046 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,235 shares during the period. PayPal comprises approximately 1.9% of WP Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. WP Advisors LLC's holdings in PayPal were worth $7,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in PayPal by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,874,637,000 after buying an additional 636,441 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in PayPal by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,131,949 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $746,508,000 after buying an additional 1,093,365 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in PayPal by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,493,311 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $605,488,000 after buying an additional 132,837 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in PayPal by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,177,536 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $548,520,000 after buying an additional 2,160,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in PayPal by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,951,876 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $466,193,000 after buying an additional 217,329 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PYPL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Compass Point upgraded PayPal from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on PayPal from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.39.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 in the last 90 days. 0.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL stock opened at $51.22 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average is $45.49 and its 200-day moving average is $55.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $46.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.40. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.46 and a twelve month high of $79.50.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. PayPal's dividend 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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