PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price Down 2.9% - Here's Why

Key Points

• PayPal shares fell 2.9% to about $49.75 on Thursday on lighter volume (~11.5M vs. avg ~21.8M), even as the company announced a high‑visibility NFL partnership that boosted sentiment and prompted Bank of America to raise its target to $55.
• Analysts are mixed: MarketBeat's consensus is a Hold with a $56.39 target, but broker views range widely — notably Morgan Stanley cut its target to $34 and rated PYPL underweight.
• Fundamentals and risks matter — PayPal missed the quarter (EPS $1.23 vs. $1.29; revenue $8.68B vs. $8.82B), insiders have been selling shares, and the stock trades at a low P/E (~9.2), signaling both execution concerns and possible valuation appeal.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 2.9% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $49.17 and last traded at $49.75. Approximately 11,526,198 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 21,831,029 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.22.

PayPal News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPal locked up an official P2P payments partnership with the NFL, a high-visibility marketing and payments arrangement that traders see as a tangible growth/engagement catalyst. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $55 after the NFL deal, highlighting that the partnership materially improved BofA’s view of incremental monetization and engagement. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish write-ups and a summarized bullish thesis (William Fleming‑Daniels) circulated this week, reinforcing a value/turnaround narrative given PayPal’s lower valuation metrics (trailing/forward P/E near single digits). Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform / Hold recommendation — a neutral stance that reduces immediate buy-side conviction despite the partnership news. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets flagged PYPL as a “trending” name, reflecting heavy retail and analyst attention but not a clear directional verdict. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculation about activist interest / acquisition-target narratives is driving intraday volatility — such stories can lift the stock on takeover hope but also signal governance/execution questions. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators remain cautious — Seeking Alpha published a “cautious hold / downgrade” view that highlights execution risk, past guidance misses, CEO turnover and shareholder litigation as downside drivers. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PYPL. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on PayPal from $50.00 to $34.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PayPal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.39.

PayPal Stock Performance

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $45.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.48. The firm has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). PayPal had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The firm had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In other PayPal news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,425,837.66. This trade represents 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,113.34. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,855,897 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $191,516,000 after purchasing an additional 51,268 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 15.5% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 164,901 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,058,000 after purchasing an additional 22,139 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 7.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,292,583 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $291,338,000 after purchasing an additional 313,180 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,210,000. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 347.0% in the third quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 193,100 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $12,949,000 after purchasing an additional 149,898 shares during the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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