eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) Short Interest Down 6.3% in March

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,090,000 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the March 15th total of 19,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on EBAY. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of eBay from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of eBay from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of eBay from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of eBay in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a "sell" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of eBay from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.21.

eBay Price Performance

EBAY stock traded down $0.64 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.25. 5,161,011 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,528,313. eBay has a one year low of $37.17 and a one year high of $52.93. The stock has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The e-commerce company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.04. eBay had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 29.16%. The company had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that eBay will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

eBay declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the e-commerce company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

eBay Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is an increase from eBay's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. eBay's payout ratio is currently 20.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 1,165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $50,129.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,372,140.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On eBay

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EBAY. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of eBay by 39.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,418,131 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $547,516,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534,030 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of eBay by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 48,038,931 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $2,131,487,000 after buying an additional 2,464,766 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of eBay by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,839,329 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $254,712,000 after buying an additional 1,491,485 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of eBay by 82.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,118,490 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $138,367,000 after buying an additional 1,410,871 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of eBay during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,019,000. 87.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About eBay

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.