Employees Retirement System of Texas Reduces Position in eBay Inc. $EBAY

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas cut its eBay stake by 42.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 44,690 shares and leaving it with 61,287 shares valued at about $5.34 million.
• Insider selling continued at eBay, including CEO Jamie Iannone and SVP Mazen Rawashdeh, with insiders selling a total of 136,953 shares worth $14.1 million last quarter.
• Despite the selling, analysts remain cautious but generally constructive: eBay has a consensus “Hold” rating with a $107.84 average price target, while the company recently beat earnings and revenue estimates and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share.

Employees Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Free Report) by 42.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,287 shares of the e-commerce company's stock after selling 44,690 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in eBay were worth $5,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. High Point Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in eBay in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new stake in shares of eBay during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of eBay by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 318 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of eBay in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of eBay in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at eBay

In other eBay news, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 21,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.37, for a total transaction of $2,044,770.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 352,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,337,822.61. This represents a 5.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mazen Rawashdeh sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.04, for a total value of $5,852,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,419,557.68. The trade was a 63.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 136,953 shares of company stock valued at $14,139,444 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on eBay from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Susquehanna upped their target price on eBay from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on eBay from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $124.00 price objective on eBay in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, President Capital lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.84.

Key Headlines Impacting eBay

Here are the key news stories impacting eBay this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Takeover speculation could still support the stock if a higher or more credible bid emerges, as GameStop’s Ryan Cohen has said he may pursue other options after eBay rejected his $56 billion offer. Wall Street awaits GameStop CEO Cohen's next move after eBay rejected takeover bid
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street coverage has highlighted eBay’s strong recent earnings and revenue growth, and some analysts still view the company as a steady compounder with improved profitability. Is eBay Stock A Compounding Engine?
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerages continue to rate eBay as “Hold,” suggesting investors are waiting for clearer catalysts before bidding the shares meaningfully higher. eBay Inc. NASDAQ: EBAY Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: Arete Research trimmed its price target on eBay to $111 from $113 and kept a neutral rating, signaling more limited upside from current levels. Arete adjusts price target on eBay to $111 from $113, maintains neutral rating
• Negative Sentiment: eBay SVP Mazen Rawashdeh sold 50,000 shares in a pre-arranged trading plan, a move that can add to investor caution even though it was disclosed and not necessarily a negative signal on fundamentals. SEC Form 4 filing

eBay Price Performance

EBAY stock opened at $110.36 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.92 and a 200-day moving average of $92.33. The company has a market cap of $49.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. eBay Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.85 and a 12-month high of $119.31.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.04 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 46.11% and a net margin of 17.58%.The company's revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. eBay has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.090-1.140 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that eBay Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

eBay Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. eBay's payout ratio is 28.12%.

About eBay

eBay Inc is a global e-commerce company that operates an online marketplace connecting individual consumers and businesses for the sale and purchase of new, used and collectible goods. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar and headquartered in San Jose, California, eBay grew from its early auction-style site into a diversified platform offering both auction-format listings and fixed-price "Buy It Now" transactions. The company completed an initial public offering in the late 1990s and has since evolved its platform and services to support a broad range of product categories and buyer preferences.

The company's core business centers on its marketplace platform, which provides listing, search and transaction capabilities for millions of items across consumer goods, electronics, fashion, collectibles and more.

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