PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• PayPal has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold” from 45 research firms, with 5 sell ratings, 32 holds, and 8 buys. The average 12-month price target is about $55.85.
• Recent analyst moves have been mixed but mostly cautious, including target cuts from Bank of America and Wells Fargo, while others maintained neutral or buy views. This suggests Wall Street remains divided on PayPal’s near-term outlook.
• PayPal reported a Q1 earnings beat, posting $1.34 EPS and $8.35 billion in revenue, both above estimates, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share. Despite the beat, the stock was trading well below its 200-day average, reflecting ongoing concerns about execution and margins.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the forty-five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirty-two have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.8514.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PYPL shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a "market perform" rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on PayPal from $67.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus decreased their price target on PayPal from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Frank Keller sold 10,732 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total transaction of $536,170.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,076,687.32. This trade represents a 20.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.46, for a total value of $66,128.02. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,443.56. This trade represents a 45.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 96,199 shares of company stock valued at $4,294,018. Insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake 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 buying 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. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary point to PayPal trading at a discounted valuation, with support from Venmo growth, AI-commerce initiatives, and international expansion; several pieces argue the stock may be too cheap if execution improves. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s Q1 results beat expectations on revenue and profit, and the company is leaning into a new strategy under its CEO, including AI tools for small businesses and a fee-waiver push that could support merchant growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s partnership with Anthropic to bring AI services to small businesses reinforces its effort to modernize the platform and build new revenue opportunities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company reached a $30 million DOJ settlement over a past DEI-related program, removing a legal overhang but also highlighting governance and compliance scrutiny. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that UK regulators are investigating PayPal alongside Mastercard and Visa over digital-wallet competition add uncertainty, but the direct financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts remain skeptical after the earnings call, citing margin pressure, transformation risk, and slower confidence in the turnaround story. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor reaction to the quarter was muted despite the revenue beat, suggesting the market is still focused on margin trends and execution risk rather than near-term growth. Article Title

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $44.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.08. PayPal has a one year low of $38.46 and a one year high of $79.50.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. Equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.51%.

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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