Argus Reaffirms Hold Rating for eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Key Points

• Argus has reaffirmed a "hold" rating for eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), indicating a cautious outlook on the stock amidst mixed analyst sentiments.
• eBay's recent quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $1.37, surpassing expectations, with revenue increasing by 6.1% year-over-year.
• The stock has a consensus target price of $78.19, with a substantial majority of analysts assigning a hold rating, reflecting uncertainty in its future performance.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating restated by investment analysts at Argus in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on EBAY. Citigroup decreased their price objective on eBay from $80.00 to $79.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $87.00 price target on eBay in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on eBay from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of eBay in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on eBay from $78.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.19.

eBay Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:EBAY traded up $2.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $100.70. 6,130,705 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,987,007. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $81.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $46.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.27. eBay has a fifty-two week low of $54.80 and a fifty-two week high of $101.15.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.07. eBay had a return on equity of 38.97% and a net margin of 20.86%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. eBay's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that eBay will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, SVP Julie A. Loeger sold 75,952 shares of eBay stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.25, for a total value of $7,082,524.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 53,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,952,227.75. The trade was a 58.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 2,985 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.67, for a total value of $234,829.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 92,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,241,809.51. This trade represents a 3.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 276,104 shares of company stock worth $22,025,676 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of eBay

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in eBay by 12.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of eBay by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 11,689,267 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $791,714,000 after buying an additional 510,629 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of eBay by 5.6% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,085,603 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $674,061,000 after purchasing an additional 478,410 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of eBay by 1.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,581,556 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $638,983,000 after purchasing an additional 140,160 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of eBay by 4.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,481 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $481,525,000 after purchasing an additional 300,216 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.48% of the company's stock.

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.