PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading Up 2.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Citigroup raised its price target to $48 (from $42), and PayPal shares jumped about 2.2% midday to as high as $46.35 (last at $45.85) on below-average volume after the move, though the firm kept a neutral rating.
• Recent quarterly results disappointed: PayPal reported $1.23 EPS vs. $1.29 expected and $8.68B in revenue vs. $8.82B consensus, while analysts' consensus remains a "Hold" with a $57.41 price target.
• Operational and legal risks are rising — a reported cybersecurity incident led to refunds and several securities class‑action filings, and insiders have sold shares recently (87,608 shares sold over the last 90 days), which could weigh on investor sentiment.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $48.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. PayPal traded as high as $46.35 and last traded at $45.85. 14,946,549 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 23,213,693 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.87.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on PYPL. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (down from $100.00) on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of PayPal from $67.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $57.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,113.34. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total transaction of $98,763.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,992.20. This trade represents a 65.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic boost — coverage highlights a new partnership with Meta that positions PayPal to expand into social commerce, which could increase transaction volume and merchant reach. Meta Platforms Gains 4%: Strong Ad Revenue Growth and PayPal Partnership Put the Stock Back in Focus
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst action — Citigroup raised its price target on PYPL to $48 (from $42) while keeping a neutral rating, signaling modest upside in sell‑side expectations. Citigroup Adjusts Price Target on PayPal to $48 From $42; Maintains Neutral Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor debate — recent commentary asks whether PayPal is a value buy after a prolonged share slump; useful for long-term investors but does not provide immediate catalysts. Is It Time To Reassess PayPal (PYPL) After Its Prolonged Share Price Slump?
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang — multiple law firms have filed or are soliciting lead-plaintiff motions in securities class actions relating to alleged disclosures during a class period; firms are reminding investors of an April 20, 2026 deadline. This increases potential litigation risk and investor uncertainty. Representative notices: Faruqi & Faruqi Class Action Notice Frank R. Cruz notice Pomerantz investor alert
• Negative Sentiment: Security incident — a reported cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized transactions led PayPal to issue refunds to affected users. That raises short-term operational costs and could pressure customer trust if issues persist. PayPal Cybersecurity Incident Tests Platform Resilience

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PYPL. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

PayPal Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.48, a PEG ratio of 1.35 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. The company's 50-day moving average price is $44.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.87.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 15.77%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.35%.

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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