Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 128,248 Shares of eBay Inc. $EBAY

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management significantly increased its eBay position in the fourth quarter, raising its stake by 336.8% to 166,325 shares worth about $14.5 million.
• eBay continues to draw institutional interest overall, with several other hedge funds and investors adding shares; institutional ownership now stands at 87.48% of the company.
• Analysts remain largely cautious but constructive: eBay has a consensus Hold rating with a $107.90 price target, while recent price-target hikes and GameStop’s larger stake have kept takeover speculation in focus.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Free Report) by 336.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,325 shares of the e-commerce company's stock after purchasing an additional 128,248 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in eBay were worth $14,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

eBay News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting eBay this week:

• Positive Sentiment: GameStop increased its eBay stake to about 6.55%-6.6%, signaling continued takeover pressure and keeping merger/acquisition speculation alive. Reuters: GameStop increases stake in eBay to more than 6%
• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target on eBay to $100 from $95, showing analysts still see value in the stock despite the takeover noise. MarketScreener: Bernstein adjusts price target on eBay

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on EBAY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of eBay from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. President Capital increased their price objective on shares of eBay from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of eBay from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of eBay from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on shares of eBay in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, eBay currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.90.

eBay Price Performance

EBAY stock opened at $118.96 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $99.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.15. The company has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.39. eBay Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.00 and a 52-week high of $119.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. eBay had a net margin of 17.58% and a return on equity of 46.11%. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. eBay's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. eBay's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.12%.

Insider Activity at eBay

In other eBay news, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 16,685 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.44, for a total value of $1,542,361.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 94,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,733,638.76. This trade represents a 15.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mazen Rawashdeh sold 23,167 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.59, for a total transaction of $2,168,199.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 28,915 shares in the company, valued at $2,706,154.85. This trade represents a 44.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 86,953 shares of company stock valued at $8,287,444 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

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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