Ascent Group LLC Raises Holdings in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,450 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in eBay were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of eBay during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of eBay during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of eBay during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of eBay during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of eBay during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EBAY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Daiwa America raised eBay from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on eBay from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on eBay from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on eBay from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of eBay in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, eBay presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $497,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 590,108 shares in the company, valued at $39,153,665.80. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Loeger sold 127,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.43, for a total value of $8,822,470.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 123,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,559,469.26. The trade was a 50.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 280,650 shares of company stock worth $19,637,729 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

eBay Price Performance

NASDAQ:EBAY opened at $71.92 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.98. The stock has a market cap of $33.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.30. eBay Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.38 and a 52 week high of $72.94.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. eBay’s payout ratio is 27.62%.

About eBay

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.