Panagora Asset Management Inc. Buys 476,277 Shares of eBay Inc. $EBAY

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management increased its eBay stake by 62.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 476,277 additional shares and lifting its position to 1,236,326 shares worth about $107.7 million.
• Institutional ownership in eBay remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 87.48% of the stock. Several other firms also boosted positions, including First Trust Advisors, Alyeska, Allianz, and Norges Bank.
• eBay reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.66 and revenue of $3.09 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $107.84.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Free Report) by 62.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,236,326 shares of the e-commerce company's stock after acquiring an additional 476,277 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned 0.27% of eBay worth $107,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBAY. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in eBay by 27.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 8,309,698 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $755,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808,976 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in eBay by 214.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,858,383 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $161,865,000 after buying an additional 1,267,601 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in eBay by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,626,424 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $315,862,000 after buying an additional 1,167,019 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in eBay in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,728,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of eBay in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $68,999,000. 87.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of eBay from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised eBay from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Evercore set a $96.00 price target on eBay in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research lowered their price target on eBay from $113.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on eBay from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.84.

eBay Price Performance

NASDAQ:EBAY opened at $108.61 on Monday. eBay Inc. has a one year low of $72.84 and a one year high of $119.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $48.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $106.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.51.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 EPS. The company's revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. eBay has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.090-1.140 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that eBay Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

eBay Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. eBay's payout ratio is presently 28.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other eBay news, SVP Jordan Douglas Bradle Sweetnam sold 1,010 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.61, for a total value of $116,766.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,399.06. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 11,110 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.59, for a total value of $1,217,544.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 280,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,707,556.36. The trade was a 3.81% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,063 shares of company stock worth $15,356,989. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

eBay Company Profile

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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