Meritage Portfolio Management Reduces Position in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Meritage Portfolio Management lessened its stake in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,128 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after selling 2,363 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in eBay were worth $5,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EBAY. SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new position in eBay during the 4th quarter valued at $1,767,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in eBay by 604.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 630,956 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $27,522,000 after buying an additional 541,384 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new position in eBay during the 3rd quarter worth about $798,000. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in eBay during the 4th quarter worth about $955,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in eBay by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,785,607 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $122,817,000 after purchasing an additional 43,616 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at eBay

In other news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 1,165 shares of eBay stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $50,129.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,372,140.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on eBay from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of eBay from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of eBay from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of eBay in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of eBay from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, eBay has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.21.

eBay Price Performance

eBay stock traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.00. 2,998,694 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,344,096. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.48. eBay Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.17 and a twelve month high of $52.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $26.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.33.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The e-commerce company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.04. eBay had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 29.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that eBay Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

eBay declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the e-commerce company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

eBay Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. This is a positive change from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. eBay’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.69%.

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.