Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Has $368,000 Position in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,717 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in PayPal were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in PayPal during the 3rd quarter valued at $810,000. FCG Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the third quarter valued at about $1,079,000. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of PayPal in the second quarter valued at about $1,454,000. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank bought a new position in PayPal during the second quarter valued at about $3,014,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 156,934.7% in the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 343,906 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,957,000 after acquiring an additional 343,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

PYPL stock opened at $86.94 on Tuesday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.98 and a 1-year high of $87.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $87.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $77.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.33.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. PayPal had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The company had revenue of $7.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PYPL has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on PayPal from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised 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 research report on Friday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.45.

PayPal 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.