eBay Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:EBAY)

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 26,873 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 108% compared to the average volume of 12,917 call options.

Insider Activity at eBay

In other eBay news, SVP Julie A. Loeger sold 127,070 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.43, for a total transaction of $8,822,470.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 123,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,559,469.26. This trade represents a 50.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 28,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.82, for a total value of $1,903,029.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,413,725.60. The trade was a 30.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 280,650 shares of company stock worth $19,637,729 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of eBay by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,493,042 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $1,765,148,000 after purchasing an additional 3,149,934 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its position in 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in eBay by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,441,396 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $571,736,000 after buying an additional 627,823 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 300,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of eBay by 3.6% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company's stock.

eBay Stock Performance

NASDAQ EBAY traded up $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $72.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,117,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,961,768. The company's 50-day moving average is $67.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.02. The stock has a market cap of $33.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. eBay has a one year low of $51.38 and a one year high of $73.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. eBay had a return on equity of 30.97% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that eBay will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

eBay Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 1.60%. eBay's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on EBAY shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on eBay from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of eBay from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of eBay from $80.00 to $79.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of eBay from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of eBay from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.42.

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.

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