PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Trading 3.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s share price traded up 3.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $49.76 and last traded at $49.57. 12,906,209 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 22,564,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.97.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Michael Burry disclosed a sizable new PayPal stake (~3.5%), drawing attention from value and activist-focused investors and helping fuel speculative buying. Michael Burry Reveals Major PayPal (PYPL) Position Amid Software Stock Buying Spree
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin is gaining traction; growth in PYUSD and PayPal’s distribution advantage are cited as medium-term revenue and product positives by crypto/payments analysts. PayPal’s (PYPL) PYUSD Is Growing Fast and the Distribution Advantage Is Hard to Ignore
• Positive Sentiment: Product/monetization moves such as Venmo’s Stash expansion (higher rewards/merchant reach) could lift consumer engagement and TPV over time. PayPal’s Venmo Stash Expansion: Will This Drive More Transactions?
• Positive Sentiment: Market chatter about activist interest and potential takeover/strategic action has pushed speculative buying and helped shares recover. Why PayPal Stock Popped Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry reports forecast steady growth in the U.S. payment gateways market through 2034 — a constructive backdrop but not an immediate catalyst. United States Payment Gateways Market Forecast and Company Analysis Report 2026-2034 Featuring PayPal…
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed: some models tighten fair value only slightly and highlight takeover talk, while others cut targets — creating a polarized consensus that supports volatility. How The Story Around PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Is Shifting With Mixed Views And Takeover Talk
• Negative Sentiment: Mizuho and other analysts downgraded/flagged PayPal on rising competitive risk from Elon Musk’s X Money / X Money features (high interest promos, integrated app reach) — a direct threat to Venmo and wallet dynamics. PayPal (PYPL) Stock Faces Mizuho Downgrade Amid X Competition Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Mounting securities class-action filings and multiple law‑firm deadline alerts raise legal and headline risk that could pressure sentiment and increase potential liabilities/costs. DEADLINE ALERT for PYPL: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Reminds Investors…

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $91.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $61.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PayPal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.61.

PayPal Stock Up 2.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.05. The firm has a market cap of $45.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.40.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) 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). PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The company had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $621,960.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,992.20. This represents a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PayPal

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at $248,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in PayPal by 41.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its holdings in PayPal by 40.1% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 4,974 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in PayPal by 17.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,909 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.