eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Trading 0.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) shot up 0.1% during trading on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $74.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. eBay traded as high as $68.88 and last traded at $67.75. 1,615,089 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 4,982,718 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.67.

EBAY has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of eBay from $80.00 to $79.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on eBay from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on eBay from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of eBay from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of eBay from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, eBay presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at eBay

In other news, 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 transaction of $265,423.48. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,392 shares in the company, valued at $6,329,927.52. This represents a 4.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 28,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.82, for a total value of $1,903,029.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,413,725.60. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,310 shares of company stock worth $3,121,626. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EBAY. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in eBay by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 53,580 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of eBay by 172.5% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 11,175 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $692,000 after buying an additional 7,074 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in eBay by 5,091.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 142,051 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $8,800,000 after acquiring an additional 139,315 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in eBay by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,121 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in eBay in the fourth quarter valued at $8,644,000. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

eBay Stock Up 1.4 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $65.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.00.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. eBay's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.62%.

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.