PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Consensus "Hold" — 45 analysts cover PayPal (6 sell, 32 hold, 7 buy) with an average 12‑month target price of $56.61.
• PayPal missed quarterly expectations (EPS $1.23 vs. $1.29; revenue $8.68B vs. $8.82B) and several firms cut ratings/price targets (e.g., Daiwa to $42, Truist to $39, Mizuho to $50), creating near‑term downside pressure.
• Insiders sold 87,608 shares (~$3.83M) last quarter, including large sales by Suzan Kereere and EVP Frank Keller, leaving insiders with just 0.63% ownership—an action that could weigh on investor sentiment.

Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the forty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirty-two have issued a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.6081.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PYPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded PayPal from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price target on PayPal from $61.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wolfe Research reissued a "sell" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on PayPal from $58.00 to $39.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $621,960.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,425,837.66. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of PayPal by 41.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the period. United Bank grew its position in shares of PayPal by 40.1% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of PayPal by 17.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,909 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 2,865 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

PayPal stock opened at $51.46 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.64. The company has a market capitalization of $46.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.40. PayPal 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 quarterly 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 return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that PayPal will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.35%.

More PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Michael Burry reportedly added PYPL to his buys, bringing activist/contrarian interest that can attract buyers and spark short-term momentum if follow-on buying appears. Michael Burry (PYPL) Stock Buys
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish take: a Seeking Alpha piece argues PayPal’s turnaround is still feasible and that the valuation already prices in a lot of bad news — a thesis that could support a value/recovery trade for long-term investors. PayPal: It's Still Not Too Late To Buy The Turnaround
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/peer comparisons (Mastercard vs. PayPal) highlight structural differences—Mastercard’s network and services still look stronger—useful context for relative positioning but not an immediate trade catalyst by itself. MA vs. PYPL: Which Digital Payments Stock Has More Room to Run?
• Neutral Sentiment: General market commentary on small-cap opportunities (unrelated to PayPal’s core story) is circulating but has limited direct relevance to PYPL’s near-term price action. 1 Small-Cap Stock with Exciting Potential and 2 We Brush Off
• Negative Sentiment: Mizuho downgraded PYPL to Neutral and cut its price target to $50 (from $60), citing increasing competitive threats (notably Musk’s X Money), recent earnings misses and insider selling—this analyst action is the primary near-term bearish catalyst. Mizuho Downgrades PayPal (PYPL) to Neutral
• Negative Sentiment: Significant legal overhang: multiple law firms (Rosen, Faruqi, Bragar, Bronstein, DJS, etc.) are publicizing class-action claims and April 20 lead-plaintiff deadlines. Potential litigation costs, management distraction and investor uncertainty increase downside risk until the cases resolve. PYPL Deadline Today: Rosen Law Firm

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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