PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• PayPal has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment.
• The company's average target price is currently set at $84.50, with mixed ratings from research analysts—17 giving a "buy" rating and 15 a "hold" rating.
• Despite recent downgrades, PayPal reported better-than-expected earnings of $1.40 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.30.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

PYPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on PayPal from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated a "positive" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.50.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $69.25 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $68.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. PayPal has a 1-year low of $55.85 and a 1-year high of $93.66. The company has a market cap of $66.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.44.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.10. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.35% and a net margin of 14.49%.The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. PayPal has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.180-1.220 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 5.150-5.300 EPS. Analysts forecast that PayPal will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Natali sold 7,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total value of $492,523.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.12, for a total value of $265,282.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,174,279.68. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,102 shares of company stock valued at $1,046,607 in the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 15.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth $248,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in PayPal by 44.5% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,475 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in PayPal by 69.5% during the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 11,469 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stablepoint Partners LLC increased its position in PayPal by 3.8% during the first quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 18,560 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,211,000 after buying an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PayPal Company Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. It operates a two-sided network at scale that connects merchants and consumers that enables its customers to connect, transact, and send and receive payments through online and in person, as well as transfer and withdraw funds using various funding sources, such as bank accounts, PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products comprising its installment products, credit and debit cards, and cryptocurrencies, as well as other stored value products, including gift cards and eligible rewards.

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