There are now three public opinions about what PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) is worth. A buyout group says $60.50 per share. The market says about $56. And the average analyst price target says about $53 -- below not just the offer, but the stock's current price.

The newest of the three opinions belongs to PayPal's board, which reportedly views the $60.50-per-share cash offer from privately held payments company Stripe and private equity firm Advent International as inadequate, according to multiple reports. The bid valued the payments specialist at more than $53 billion. Notably, PayPal hasn't publicly responded to the proposal. Reports say board discussions have centered on whether the bid is high enough to warrant opening negotiations at all.

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For shareholders, that leaves an odd setup: a stock pinned between an offer above the market price and an analyst consensus below it. Each number is telling investors something different, and it's worth taking them one at a time.

Why the board views it as inadequate

The bid itself came with roughly $50 billion in committed bank financing, and the offer price represented a 28% premium to where PayPal traded before news of the bid broke on July 15. Shares jumped 17% that day and closed at $55.52.

That view implies its directors value the company above $60.50. And reports suggest the bidders may raise their offer rather than walk. Famed investor Michael Burry, a PayPal shareholder, publicly called the offer an opening bid and pegged the company's value far higher. The board evidently agrees that $60.50 shouldn't be the last word.

Two prices below the offer

The market is less convinced. At about $56 as of this writing, shares of the e-commerce payments company trade roughly 7% below the offer price -- almost exactly where they settled when the bid became public. A discount like that is the market's way of pricing the risk that talks collapse, financing slips, or regulators balk. After all, the bidders have reportedly weighed possible antitrust remedies, including separating PayPal's Braintree business and transferring it to Advent -- a sign that even they expect regulatory questions. If the deal died tomorrow, the stock would likely head back toward its pre-offer price of $47.37.