eBay’s (EBAY) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at Benchmark in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $58.00 target price on the e-commerce company’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 15.91% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of eBay from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of eBay from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of eBay from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised eBay from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on eBay from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.95.

eBay Price Performance

Shares of EBAY stock traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $50.04. The stock had a trading volume of 2,684,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,341,544. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 2.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. eBay has a one year low of $37.17 and a one year high of $52.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.74.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The e-commerce company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 29.16% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that eBay will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

eBay declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 27th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the e-commerce company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 1,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On eBay

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of eBay in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,767,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of eBay by 604.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 630,956 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $27,522,000 after acquiring an additional 541,384 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new position in shares of eBay in the third quarter valued at approximately $798,000. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of eBay in the fourth quarter worth approximately $955,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of eBay by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 244,543 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $10,591,000 after purchasing an additional 97,906 shares in 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.