Short Interest in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) Grows By 18.6%

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,970,000 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the April 30th total of 21,050,000 shares. Currently, 5.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 6,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBAY has been the subject of several research reports. Susquehanna upped their target price on eBay from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on eBay from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on eBay from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised eBay from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on eBay from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.65.

eBay Trading Up 1.1%

EBAY stock traded up $0.87 on Friday, reaching $78.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,755,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,974,079. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.62. eBay has a 12-month low of $51.72 and a 12-month high of $79.49. The firm has a market cap of $36.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.30. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that eBay will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. eBay's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.62%.

Insider Transactions at eBay

In other eBay news, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $497,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 590,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,153,665.80. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 3,958 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $265,423.48. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,329,927.52. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 280,650 shares of company stock valued at $19,637,729. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On eBay

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 3,149,934 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in eBay by 4.6% during the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 11,689,267 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $791,714,000 after buying an additional 510,629 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in eBay by 8.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,441,396 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $571,736,000 after buying an additional 627,823 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in eBay by 4.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,481 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $481,525,000 after buying an additional 300,216 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company's stock.

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.