PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Rating Increased to Hold at Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler upgraded PayPal to a Hold rating, adding to a wave of mostly cautious analyst views on the stock.
• PayPal’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $1.34 and revenue of $8.35 billion, both above consensus estimates. Revenue also rose 7.2% year over year.
• Despite the improved quarter, sentiment remains mixed: analysts cite concerns about growth, margin pressure, and competition, while the stock continues to trade at relatively modest valuation levels.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Piper Sandler to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of PayPal from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Loop Capital started coverage on PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "hold" rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on PayPal from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on PayPal from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.01.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL opened at $43.18 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.34. The business's 50-day moving average price is $44.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.25. PayPal has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $79.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 25.02%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,337 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was 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 directly owned 1,586 shares in the company, valued at $78,443.56. This trade represents a 45.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,762.57. This represents a 9.83% 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. Insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623 in the last 90 days. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in PayPal by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,276,205,000 after buying an additional 5,534,462 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 27,953,803 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,874,637,000 after purchasing an additional 636,441 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 67.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,614,720 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,158,554,000 after purchasing an additional 10,356,256 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $949,758,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in PayPal by 227.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,804,208 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $624,364,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Negative Sentiment: PayPal drew another cautious call from Goldman Sachs, which kept a Sell rating and lifted its price target only modestly, signaling continued skepticism about upside. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Receives a Sell from Goldman Sachs
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver Quantitative said the stock’s slide reflects ongoing investor concern about growth, margin pressure, and competition, rather than a single fresh catalyst. PayPal shares slide as investors remain cautious on growth and competition
• Neutral Sentiment: Piper Sandler’s sector review was more constructive on payments broadly, but its preferred names were other fintech and card companies, leaving PayPal outside the top picks. Piper Sandler picks Payments and Consumer Finance winners as multiples reset
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal remains a closely watched fintech name amid comparisons with Shift4, as investors weigh its profitability and scale against faster-growing peers. Shift4 Payments vs. PayPal: Which FinTech Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors see value in PayPal’s low valuation, with the stock trading near a multi-year cheapness level on a forward P/E basis, which could support a rebound if execution improves. PYPL Stock Is Trading Near The Cheapest Valuation In Years — So Why Is Wall Street Still On The Fence?
• Positive Sentiment: News around PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin expansion and AI-commerce integration highlights potential longer-term growth avenues in merchant payments and digital commerce. The invisible tech revolution poised to make in-chat AI shopping real

About PayPal

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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