PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Shares Down 1.2% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• PayPal shares fell 1.2% to $58.38 on Wednesday, with about 12.7 million shares changing hands—slightly above its average daily volume.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed: the consensus rating is "Hold" with a $78.29 average price target after several firms lowered targets and a handful issued sell ratings.
• PayPal beat recent quarterly expectations (EPS $1.34 vs. $1.20, revenue $8.42B, +7.3% YoY), gave FY2025 EPS guidance of 5.350–5.390, trades at a P/E of 11.7 and pays a $0.14 quarterly dividend (~1.0% yield).

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) dropped 1.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $58.34 and last traded at $58.38. Approximately 12,741,401 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 12,651,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued a "negative" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. KGI Securities reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Compass Point dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $66.00 to $56.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PayPal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.29.

PayPal Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.07.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.14. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.64% and a net margin of 14.96%.The company had revenue of $8.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. PayPal's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. PayPal has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.270-1.310 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.390 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other news, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total value of $615,303.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,699 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,486.71. This trade represents a 20.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 1,374 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.13, for a total value of $94,984.62. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,156 shares of company stock worth $2,432,524. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,160 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.6% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 9,157 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of PayPal by 1.5% in the second quarter. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,233 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 1,840 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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