National Pension Service Buys 5,782 Shares of eBay Inc. $EBAY

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in eBay Inc. by 0.7%, now owning 894,594 shares valued at approximately $60.59 million.
• eBay recently reported earnings per share of $1.37, exceeding estimates and showing a revenue increase of 6.1% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, with an ex-dividend date of August 29th, representing a 1.2% annualized yield.

National Pension Service lifted its position in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 894,594 shares of the e-commerce company's stock after buying an additional 5,782 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.19% of eBay worth $60,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EBAY. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in eBay by 2,536.5% during the first 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 during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in eBay by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,493,042 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $1,765,148,000 after purchasing an additional 3,149,934 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in eBay in the first quarter valued at about $202,346,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in eBay by 5,181.4% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,196,321 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $148,757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in eBay by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,809,265 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $421,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at eBay

In related news, SVP Julie A. Loeger sold 92,895 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $6,694,013.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 123,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,883,700.92. This trade represents a 42.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jordan Douglas Bradle Sweetnam sold 23,597 shares of eBay stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $1,825,935.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 44,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,436,677.94. This trade represents a 34.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 276,104 shares of company stock valued at $22,025,676 over the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on EBAY. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on eBay from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of eBay in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Daiwa America raised eBay from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Arete Research raised eBay from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of eBay in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.19.

eBay Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of EBAY traded down $1.67 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $99.03. The stock had a trading volume of 5,476,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,626,860. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.84. eBay Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.29 and a twelve month high of $101.15. The firm has a market cap of $45.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.07. eBay had a return on equity of 38.97% and a net margin of 20.86%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. eBay's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

eBay Announces Dividend

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

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.