eBay Inc. $EBAY Shares Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 2,568.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 140,000 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after buying an additional 134,754 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in eBay were worth $14,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Columbus Macro LLC increased its holdings in shares of eBay by 2.5% during the third quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its position in shares of eBay by 5.3% during the third quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 2,083 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in shares of eBay by 1.3% during the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 8,532 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of eBay by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of eBay by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,818 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

Top eBay Stories

Here are a few of the latest stories about EBAY:

• Positive Sentiment: Lower-cost shipping is prompting questions about eBay’s investment case; cheaper delivery could improve the appeal of buying and selling on its marketplace, though the article title alone does not quantify the impact. Is Lower Cost Shipping Altering The Investment Case For eBay (EBAY)?
• Neutral Sentiment: eBay’s SEMA car-collection launch adds a promotional angle in the auto category, but the coverage frames it as a valuation question rather than demonstrating a material financial contribution. Is eBay (EBAY) Undervalued After Its SEMA Car Collection Launch?
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Jamie Iannone sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan; the scheduled nature of the sale makes it a limited signal about management’s outlook. eBay CEO stock sale

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EBAY. Mizuho set a $120.00 price target on shares of eBay in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of eBay from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of eBay from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Oppenheimer set a $150.00 price objective on shares of eBay in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of eBay in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, eBay presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.52.

eBay Stock Performance

Shares of EBAY opened at $122.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. eBay Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.03 and a 52 week high of $127.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $113.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The e-commerce company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 49.20% and a net margin of 16.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that eBay Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. eBay’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, SVP Jordan Sweetnam sold 1,014 shares of eBay stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.39, for a total transaction of $102,809.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 35,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,604,008.94. The trade was a 2.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.98, for a total transaction of $1,366,307.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 204,049 shares in the company, valued at $25,093,946.02. This represents a 5.16% 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 sold a total of 34,344 shares of company stock valued at $3,795,885 over the last three months. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

eBay Profile

eBay Inc. operates a global online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. Its platform supports both auction-style listings and fixed-price sales across a broad range of categories, including electronics, fashion, collectibles, home goods and auto parts. Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 as AuctionWeb, the company adopted the eBay name in 1997. It also provides services and tools for sellers, including advertising, payments and shipping features that support transactions on its marketplace. eBay serves customers and businesses in markets around the world.