eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Stock Price Down 2.4% Following Insider Selling

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) traded down 2.4% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $63.61 and last traded at $64.78. 1,633,230 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 4,855,110 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.36.

Specifically, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 28,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.82, for a total transaction of $1,903,029.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,080 shares in the company, valued at $4,413,725.60. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EBAY shares. StockNews.com downgraded eBay from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of eBay from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of eBay from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut eBay from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on eBay from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.46.

eBay Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

eBay Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. eBay’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

Institutional Trading of eBay

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of eBay by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,493,042 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $1,765,148,000 after buying an additional 3,149,934 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of eBay by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 11,178,638 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $692,517,000 after buying an additional 2,277,839 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of eBay by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,151,026 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $573,220,000 after acquiring an additional 335,035 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in eBay by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,032,336 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $435,665,000 after purchasing an additional 245,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in eBay by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,809,265 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $421,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,292 shares during the period. 87.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

eBay Company Profile

eBay Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates marketplace platforms that connect buyers and sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and internationally. The company’s marketplace platform includes its online marketplace at ebay.com, off-platform businesses, and the eBay suite of mobile apps.