TB Alternative Assets Ltd. Acquires New Stake in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

TB Alternative Assets Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 63,703 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,315,000. eBay comprises 1.0% of TB Alternative Assets Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of eBay by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,493,042 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $1,765,148,000 after acquiring an additional 3,149,934 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of eBay by 25.6% during the fourth 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $435,665,000 after acquiring an additional 245,624 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of eBay by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,809,265 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $421,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030,292 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of eBay by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,936,508 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $367,767,000 after acquiring an additional 82,904 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, SVP Julie A. Loeger sold 92,895 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $6,694,013.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 123,282 shares in the company, valued at $8,883,700.92. This represents a 42.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.83, for a total transaction of $698,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 570,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,855,751.82. The trade was a 1.72% 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 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

eBay Trading Up 1.1%

eBay stock opened at $78.61 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.78. eBay Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.72 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.27.

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

eBay Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. eBay’s payout ratio is 27.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on EBAY. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of eBay from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of eBay from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of eBay from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of eBay from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of eBay from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, eBay currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.65.

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.