Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised its price target for eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) from $81.00 to $89.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.75% based on the company's recent close.
• eBay's earnings results showed an EPS of $1.37, exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.30, with revenue reaching $2.73 billion compared to an expected $2.64 billion.
• Currently, 87.48% of eBay's stock is held by institutional investors, reflecting strong interest from large investment firms.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $81.00 to $89.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the e-commerce company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential downside of 2.99% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on EBAY. Citizens Jmp upgraded eBay to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on eBay from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on eBay from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on eBay from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on eBay from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.69.

eBay Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:EBAY traded down $0.01 on Thursday, reaching $91.74. The company had a trading volume of 11,877,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,436,764. eBay has a 52-week low of $54.55 and a 52-week high of $92.79. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $77.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last announced 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. eBay had a return on equity of 38.97% and a net margin of 20.86%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that eBay will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 2,985 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 92,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,241,809.51. This represents a 3.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Loeger sold 127,070 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.43, for a total value of $8,822,470.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 123,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,559,469.26. The trade was a 50.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 337,222 shares of company stock worth $24,463,922. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On eBay

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of eBay during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,958,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of eBay during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,805,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of eBay by 0.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 53,089 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $3,596,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of eBay by 210.2% during the fourth quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 238,132 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $14,752,000 after acquiring an additional 161,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of eBay by 59.6% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,857 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company's stock.

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.