Boston Partners Reduces Stake in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Key Points

• Boston Partners reduced its stake in eBay by 18.7%, now holding approximately 4.76 million shares worth around $322.58 million.
• eBay's recent earnings report showed a profit of $1.37 per share, exceeding estimates and a year-over-year revenue increase of 6.1%.
• The company's quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share is set to be paid on September 12th, translating to an annualized yield of 1.2%.

Boston Partners reduced its stake in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Free Report) by 18.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,762,872 shares of the e-commerce company's stock after selling 1,093,404 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned approximately 1.03% of eBay worth $322,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBAY. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in eBay by 2,536.5% in the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 3,535,290 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $239,037,000 after buying an additional 3,401,198 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in eBay by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,493,042 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $1,765,148,000 after buying an additional 3,149,934 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in eBay in the 1st quarter valued at $202,346,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in eBay by 5,181.4% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,196,321 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $148,757,000 after buying an additional 2,154,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in eBay by 304.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,105,270 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $130,421,000 after buying an additional 1,584,404 shares in the last quarter. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 2,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.67, for a total value of $234,829.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 92,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,241,809.51. This represents a 3.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Loeger sold 92,895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $6,694,013.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 123,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,883,700.92. The trade was a 42.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 276,104 shares of company stock worth $22,025,676. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on EBAY shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on eBay from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on eBay from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Arete Research raised eBay from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citizens Jmp raised eBay to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on eBay from $81.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.19.

eBay Stock Down 2.3%

EBAY stock traded down $2.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $98.48. The company had a trading volume of 6,043,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,904,239. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $45.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.52. eBay Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.96.

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

eBay Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. eBay's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.55%.

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.