Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Key Points

• eBay call-option activity surged: Investors bought 8,935 call options, about 67% above the typical volume of 5,354 contracts.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: eBay has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $115.24, despite several Buy or Outperform recommendations.
• Shares rose 3.9% to $116.52 and remain near their 52-week high, while eBay reported quarterly revenue and earnings above analyst expectations. Institutional investors own 87.48% of the stock, and insiders have sold shares in recent months.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors bought 8,935 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 67% compared to the typical volume of 5,354 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBAY has been the subject of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities began coverage on shares of eBay in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Mizuho set a $110.00 target price on eBay in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of eBay from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of eBay in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered eBay from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $115.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at eBay

In other news, SVP Jordan Sweetnam sold 1,014 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.39, for a total transaction of $102,809.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 35,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,604,008.94. This represents a 2.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 eBay stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.08, for a total value of $1,189,658.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 226,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,228,884.52. This trade represents a 4.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 34,344 shares of company stock worth $3,635,567 in the last 90 days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On eBay

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of eBay in the second quarter worth about $4,406,897,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of eBay by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 7,748,177 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $674,866,000 after buying an additional 384,570 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in eBay in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $506,653,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in eBay by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,014,323 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $448,601,000 after buying an additional 838,057 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in eBay by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,901,415 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $446,042,000 after buying an additional 80,450 shares in the last quarter. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

eBay Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of EBAY stock traded up $4.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $116.52. 2,816,343 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,898,607. eBay has a 52-week low of $78.03 and a 52-week high of $119.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $106.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The e-commerce company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.10. eBay had a return on equity of 47.88% and a net margin of 18.50%. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. eBay has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.360-1.420 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that eBay will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. eBay's payout ratio is 25.67%.

eBay Company Profile

eBay Inc NASDAQ: EBAY operates a global online marketplace that connects millions of buyers and sellers. The platform enables individuals, small businesses and larger retailers to list and purchase new, used and refurbished merchandise across categories such as electronics, fashion, collectibles, automotive parts, home goods and industrial products.

The company generates revenue primarily through fees charged to sellers for listing and selling items, along with advertising services and other marketplace-related offerings.

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