eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) Short Interest Down 6.3% in March

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,090,000 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the March 15th total of 19,310,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBAY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of eBay from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.21.

eBay Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of EBAY stock opened at $49.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.16. eBay has a fifty-two week low of $37.17 and a fifty-two week high of $52.93.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The e-commerce company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.04. eBay had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 29.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that eBay will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

eBay declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the e-commerce company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

eBay Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is a boost from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. eBay’s payout ratio is 20.69%.

Insider Transactions at eBay

In other eBay news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 1,165 shares of eBay stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $50,129.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,372,140.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Founders Financial Securities LLC acquired a new position in eBay during the 1st quarter worth approximately $311,000. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in eBay during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,309,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in eBay during the 1st quarter worth approximately $436,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of eBay by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 174,317 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $9,208,000 after buying an additional 21,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in shares of eBay by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 35,639 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after buying an additional 6,136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

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.