PayPal Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PYPL)

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 110,163 call options on the stock. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately44% compared to the typical daily volume of 76,381 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PYPL. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $75.00 price target on PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at PayPal

In related news, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.39, for a total transaction of $288,801.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,483 shares in the company, valued at $3,364,235.37. This trade represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Diego Scotti sold 3,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.12, for a total value of $265,282.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,989 shares in the company, valued at $1,174,279.68. This trade represents a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,102 shares of company stock worth $1,046,607 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the second quarter valued at $921,570,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 1st quarter valued at $529,264,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PayPal by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,559,376 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $558,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638,815 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of PayPal by 124.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,497,415 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $228,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,520 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of PayPal by 1,066.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,106,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $156,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925,583 shares during the period. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Stock Down 0.3%

PYPL opened at $68.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $65.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. PayPal has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.76.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.08 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.35% and a net margin of 14.49%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. PayPal has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.180-1.220 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 5.150-5.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. It operates a two-sided network at scale that connects merchants and consumers that enables its customers to connect, transact, and send and receive payments through online and in person, as well as transfer and withdraw funds using various funding sources, such as bank accounts, PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products comprising its installment products, credit and debit cards, and cryptocurrencies, as well as other stored value products, including gift cards and eligible rewards.