PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Given New $44.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial cut its price target on PayPal from $45 to $44 and kept a sell rating, implying a small downside from the prior close.
• Other analysts remain cautious overall: the stock has a Hold consensus rating and a consensus price target of $55.85, despite a mix of buy, hold, and sell calls.
• PayPal’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $1.34 and revenue of $8.35 billion, while shares were trading around $44.44, near the low end of their 52-week range.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $45.00 to $44.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "sell" rating on the credit services provider's stock. Truist Financial's price target points to a potential downside of 1.00% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Friday. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citizens Jmp restated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $50.00 price target (down from $60.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $34.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.85.

PayPal Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of PYPL opened at $44.44 on Tuesday. PayPal has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $79.50. The company has a market capitalization of $39.20 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in PayPal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 15,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 460 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

More PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are highlighting PayPal’s cost-cutting efforts and buyback program as the main reasons the stock could rebound if margins and per-share earnings improve. PayPal: Cost Cuts And Buybacks Are The Real Bull Case
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal also announced a new multi-year partnership with the Seattle Seahawks, extending its digital payments footprint and adding another visible brand partnership after its recent NFL deal. Seattle Seahawks and PayPal announce PayPal as the team's Official Fan-to-Fan Payments & Exclusive Digital Ticket Payment Processing Partner
• Neutral Sentiment: Venmo is rolling out a major redesign aimed at making the app more social and easier to use, which could help engagement over time but is not yet a measurable financial catalyst. Venmo's biggest makeover in years comes at a very interesting time
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks notes that PayPal is attracting heavy investor attention, but the article is more about market interest than any new fundamental development. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary continues to focus on PayPal’s slower growth, competition, and the market’s harsh reaction to Q1 results, which helps explain why sentiment remains cautious despite solid revenue growth. PayPal Faces a Brutal Reality: 3 Real Problems Hurting the Stock Now
• Negative Sentiment: Another article framed PayPal as either a value trap or a value opportunity after a weak post-earnings reaction, underscoring that investors are still split on whether the stock can recover quickly. Is PayPal (PYPL) a Value Trap or a Value Opportunity after Q1?

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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