First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Boosts Holdings in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,706 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,162 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $2,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 18.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 234,147 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,686,000 after acquiring an additional 36,994 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 197.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 82,620 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,535,000 after purchasing an additional 54,832 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of PayPal by 33.8% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 77,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,179,000 after buying an additional 19,510 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 14.2% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 168,866 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,312,000 after buying an additional 21,047 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the first quarter valued at $3,644,000. 68.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PYPL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on PayPal from $74.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of PayPal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of PayPal from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of PayPal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.03.

PayPal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PYPL opened at $78.22 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.80 and a 52 week high of $83.70.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.