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

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 17,615 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 100% compared to the average daily volume of 8,796 call options.

Insider Activity

In other eBay news, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 5,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.91, for a total transaction of $336,993.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 548,042 shares in the company, valued at $32,833,196.22. This represents a 1.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 3,989 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 26,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,705. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On eBay

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in eBay by 650.3% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in eBay by 547.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 257,847 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $15,974,000 after purchasing an additional 218,025 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC acquired a new stake in eBay in the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of eBay by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,366 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of eBay by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,806 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on eBay from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on eBay from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded eBay from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of eBay from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.83.

eBay Stock Performance

EBAY traded up $1.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $66.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,717,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,050,470. The company has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.85. eBay has a 52-week low of $40.33 and a 52-week high of $71.52. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. eBay’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.