First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 393,974 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,276,383 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 393,974 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in PayPal were worth $364,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in PayPal by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 35,219 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,748,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at about $5,296,000. Sfmg LLC acquired a new position in shares of PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $234,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in PayPal by 196.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,221 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $798,000 after acquiring an additional 6,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on PYPL shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of PayPal from $103.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on PayPal from $85.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of PayPal from $110.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of PayPal from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on PayPal from $104.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.84.

Insider Transactions at PayPal

In related news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $61.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $60.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.17. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.85 and a twelve month high of $93.66.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Company Profile

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.