Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 33,142 Shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in eBay Inc. by 64% in the first quarter, owning 18,639 shares after selling 33,142 shares, valuing its remaining stake at $1,262,000.
• Insider transactions highlighted recent sales by eBay executives, with SVP Cornelius Boone selling 2,985 shares and CEO Jamie Iannone selling 10,974 shares, marking a decrease in their ownership percentages.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29, signaling a 1.3% dividend yield, with implications of a stable financial outlook as insiders follow liquidity strategies.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Free Report) by 64.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,639 shares of the e-commerce company's stock after selling 33,142 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in eBay were worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBAY. US Bancorp DE raised its position in eBay by 4.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 104,754 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $7,095,000 after purchasing an additional 4,097 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in eBay by 52.7% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,646 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 2,293 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in eBay by 10.4% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 487,724 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $33,034,000 after buying an additional 45,774 shares during the period. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of eBay by 8.6% in the first quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 17,153 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of eBay by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 10,857 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EBAY. Cfra Research raised shares of eBay to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Daiwa America upgraded eBay from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Citizens Jmp raised shares of eBay to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on eBay from $66.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, eBay presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.69.

eBay Stock Up 1.4%

EBAY traded up $1.26 on Wednesday, reaching $92.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,729,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,620,552. eBay Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.80 and a 1 year high of $93.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $42.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50 day moving average is $78.22 and its 200 day moving average is $71.09.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.07. eBay had a net margin of 20.86% and a return on equity of 38.97%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

eBay Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. eBay's dividend payout ratio is 25.55%.

Insider Activity at eBay

In other news, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 10,974 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total transaction of $831,280.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 306,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,228,813.25. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jordan Douglas Bradle Sweetnam sold 22,206 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total value of $1,729,847.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 403,174 shares of company stock valued at $30,848,146 over the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.