eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $71.90 and last traded at $71.66, with a volume of 2085794 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EBAY. Sanford C. Bernstein cut eBay from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Securities raised their price objective on eBay from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised eBay from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on eBay from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on eBay from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.42.

eBay Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $33.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 30.97% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

eBay Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. eBay’s payout ratio is presently 27.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $497,625.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 590,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,153,665.80. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 28,060 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,080 shares in the company, valued at $4,413,725.60. This represents a 30.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,755 shares of company stock valued at $12,943,715 in the last ninety days. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of eBay in the 1st quarter valued at about $14,727,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in eBay in the 1st quarter valued at about $330,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in eBay by 168.7% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 36,138 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $2,448,000 after buying an additional 22,688 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its position in eBay by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 10,751 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in eBay in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,973,000. 87.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.