eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Stock Price Up 0.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) shot up 0.6% during trading on Tuesday 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 $67.02 and last traded at $66.75. 1,627,727 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 4,956,697 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.32.

EBAY has been the subject of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of eBay from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of eBay from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of eBay from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of eBay from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of eBay from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 5,625 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.25, for a total transaction of $378,281.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 530,998 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,709,615.50. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 3,958 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $265,423.48. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,329,927.52. This represents a 4.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 46,310 shares of company stock valued at $3,121,626. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of eBay

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of eBay by 147.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 10,373 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 6,187 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of eBay by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 24,273 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 4,030 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in shares of eBay by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 101,684 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $6,887,000 after purchasing an additional 9,826 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in eBay by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 350,793 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $23,759,000 after acquiring an additional 24,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in eBay by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 14,728 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. 87.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

eBay Stock Down 0.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $31.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.01. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. eBay had a return on equity of 30.97% and a net margin of 19.68%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

eBay Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. eBay's payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

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.