eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Stock Price Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) rose 0.1% during trading on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $74.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. eBay traded as high as $68.88 and last traded at $67.75. Approximately 1,615,089 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 4,982,718 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.67.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of eBay from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on eBay from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on eBay from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on eBay from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on eBay from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, eBay currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 28,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.82, for a total value of $1,903,029.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,413,725.60. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 3,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $265,423.48. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 94,392 shares in the company, valued at $6,329,927.52. The trade was a 4.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,310 shares of company stock worth $3,121,626 over the last quarter. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On eBay

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EBAY. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in eBay by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,493,042 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $1,765,148,000 after buying an additional 3,149,934 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of eBay by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 11,178,638 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $692,517,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277,839 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of eBay by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,151,026 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $573,220,000 after purchasing an additional 335,035 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in eBay by 3.6% during the fourth 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 raised its stake 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.43.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 30.97% and a net margin of 19.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. eBay’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

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.