eBay Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:EBAY)

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 15,675 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 27% compared to the average volume of 12,310 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 5,625 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.25, for a total value of $378,281.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 530,998 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,709,615.50. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 28,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.82, for a total transaction of $1,903,029.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,413,725.60. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,310 shares of company stock worth $3,121,626 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of eBay

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of eBay during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of eBay in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of eBay during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of eBay during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in eBay in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company's stock.

eBay Trading Up 1.4 %

EBAY traded up $0.96 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.16. 9,856,354 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,988,992. The company's fifty day moving average price is $65.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.43. eBay has a fifty-two week low of $48.52 and a fifty-two week high of $71.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. eBay had a return on equity of 30.97% and a net margin of 19.68%. The firm's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that eBay will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

eBay Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. eBay's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EBAY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on eBay from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on eBay from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of eBay from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of eBay from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of eBay from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, eBay currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.83.

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.