eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, sixteen have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.63.

Several equities analysts recently commented on EBAY shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of eBay in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of eBay from $72.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of eBay from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America reduced their price target on eBay from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut eBay from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Insider Activity at eBay

In other news, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 3,989 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total value of $260,082.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 71,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,659,778.80. This represents a 5.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 5,625 shares of eBay stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.56, for a total value of $374,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,852,008.96. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,908 shares of company stock worth $2,110,731 in the last quarter. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of eBay

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBAY. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of eBay by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 52,494 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $3,418,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Optas LLC boosted its position in eBay by 0.5% during the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 34,082 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in eBay by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 23,475 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of eBay by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 15,205 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of eBay by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 10,335 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBAY opened at $63.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $30.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.64. eBay has a one year low of $40.16 and a one year high of $67.80.

eBay Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. eBay’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.14%.

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.