Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 70,585 Shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Free Report) by 71.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,364 shares of the e-commerce company's stock after selling 70,585 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in eBay were worth $1,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of eBay in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of eBay in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of eBay in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of eBay in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of eBay in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on EBAY. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on eBay from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna raised their target price on eBay from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on eBay from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of eBay in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Daiwa America raised eBay from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, eBay currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.73.

eBay Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBAY traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,438,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,035,479. eBay Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.03 and a fifty-two week high of $79.84. The company has a market capitalization of $34.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $72.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.15.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. eBay had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 19.78%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. eBay's payout ratio is 27.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 1,167 shares of eBay stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.21, for a total value of $77,267.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,080 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,946.80. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 12,644 shares of eBay stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.06, for a total value of $999,634.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 325,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,698,690.18. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 315,918 shares of company stock worth $22,432,706 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.