First Trust Advisors LP Buys 139,247 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP raised its PayPal stake by 3.7% in Q3, buying 139,247 shares to hold 3,899,714 shares (about 0.42%) valued at roughly $261.5 million.
• Negative headwinds are mounting: insiders have sold 87,608 shares (~$3.83M) in the last 90 days, while securities class‑action filings, rising short interest and recent analyst downgrades increase downside risk.
• Recent results and payout: PayPal missed Q4 estimates (EPS $1.23 vs. $1.29; revenue $8.68B vs. $8.82B) and announced a $0.14 quarterly dividend ($0.56 annual, ~1.2% yield).

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,899,714 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 139,247 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.42% of PayPal worth $261,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PayPal by 43.2% during the third quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 20,083 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 6,057 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its holdings in PayPal by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 4,952 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,341,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in PayPal by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 29,262 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,962,000 after buying an additional 1,344 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PayPal by 1.9% during the third quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 158,667 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $10,640,000 after buying an additional 2,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at PayPal

In other PayPal news, CAO Chris Natali sold 2,208 shares of PayPal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.73, for a total value of $98,763.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,140 shares in the company, valued at $50,992.20. The trade was a 65.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 13,515 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total value of $621,960.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,425,837.66. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 87,608 shares of company stock valued at $3,831,535 over the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PayPal Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of PYPL opened at $46.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $38.46 and a one year high of $79.50. The company has a market cap of $43.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.43.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). PayPal had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The business had revenue of $8.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PYPL. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $42.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of PayPal in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of PayPal from $58.00 to $39.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.03.

Key Headlines Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Concrete PYUSD use case: PayPal’s partnership to enable digital‑asset settlement of freight invoices with TCS Blockchain gives PYUSD a real B2B payments application that could add transaction volume and fee opportunities. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Stablecoin narrative supports adoption: industry reports show the stablecoin market concentrating around a few players, highlighting PYUSD’s growing relevance vs. smaller alternatives. This supports PayPal’s strategic push into tokenized payments. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage with limited upside: Bank of America started coverage with a "neutral" rating and a $48 target, signaling attention but only modest upside from current levels. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Re‑rating / valuation debate: Multiple market writeups are re‑evaluating PayPal after the share reset — this keeps the stock in focus and boosts trading volume but produces mixed buy/hold views. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal overhang — several law firms have filed or solicited plaintiffs for securities class actions alleging PayPal misled investors about growth and guidance; lead‑plaintiff deadlines (April 20, 2026) intensify litigation risk and potential settlement costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Several senior executives have disclosed sizable sales (EVP Frank Keller, CAO Chris Natali and others), which investors often interpret as a near‑term negative signal. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rising and recent downgrades: Reports show increased short interest and fresh downgrades / cautious price targets following PayPal’s Q4 revenue and EPS miss, which remain central to the bearish case. Read More. • Read More.

PayPal Company Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal's platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal's portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree's developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.

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