WASHINGTON TRUST Co Trims Stock Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

WASHINGTON TRUST Co decreased its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 7.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,423 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 13,241 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in PayPal were worth $11,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in PayPal in the second quarter worth $921,570,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in PayPal by 1.6% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 11,992,031 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $891,248,000 after purchasing an additional 184,014 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of PayPal by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,038,584 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $746,068,000 after purchasing an additional 522,514 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,680,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $448,023,000 after buying an additional 138,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in PayPal by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,522,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $484,771,000 after buying an additional 103,718 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, EVP Frank Keller sold 3,478 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.20, for a total value of $139,815.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 51,567 shares in the company, valued at $2,072,993.40. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total transaction of $1,560,563.37. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,285,484.67. This represents a 54.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,304 shares of company stock worth $1,749,493. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PYPL. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $52.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Dbs Bank raised PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, President Capital decreased their target price on PayPal from $91.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.21.

PayPal Stock Up 1.5%

NASDAQ PYPL opened at $46.21 on Monday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.50. 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 has a market capitalization of $42.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.31.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The business had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. PayPal’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be 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 is Wednesday, March 4th. PayPal’s payout ratio is 10.35%.

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.