PayPal Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Dan Schulman just did something “unusual” for a departing executive. Often, executives and other insiders begin to trim their company stock exposure when they’re planning to slim back their duties, said VerityData research director Ben Silverman. But Schulman, who announced earlier this month that he plans to leave the CEO post at the end of 2023, just purchased nearly $2 million in PayPal stock
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+0.78%.
See more: PayPal CEO Dan Schulman plans his exit as earnings return to growth
Schulman’s Feb. 17 purchase of just over 26,000 shares, disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that same day, “serves to drive home the idea that management believes it can execute its plan to expand earnings meaningfully this year despite modest top-line growth,” Silverman said in emailed comments to MarketWatch. PayPal has seen a rough stretch in the past year or so, as the one-time pandemic darling has had to adjust to a more normalized growth trajectory for e-commerce spending as well as what some analysts see as a heightened competitive landscape. Shares of PayPal have slid 60% since the start of 2022, while the S&P 500
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has lost about 14% over the same span. Schulman bought about about $1 million worth of PayPal’s stock in February 2022, after the company posted a disappointing earnings report, “so it’s certainly a positive to see him come back w …