Strs Ohio Acquires 1,343 Shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,563 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in eBay were worth $1,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in eBay by 39.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,418,131 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $547,516,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534,030 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in eBay by 2.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 11,167,875 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $495,407,000 after acquiring an additional 289,071 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in eBay by 16.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,182,095 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $360,749,000 after buying an additional 1,130,089 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in eBay by 3.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,979,291 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $307,717,000 after buying an additional 209,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in eBay by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,839,329 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $254,712,000 after buying an additional 1,491,485 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on EBAY. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. 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 report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of eBay from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of eBay from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, eBay presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 1,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $50,129.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,888 shares in the company, valued at $1,372,140.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

eBay Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBAY opened at $50.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.38 and a 200 day moving average of $44.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.32. eBay Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.17 and a 12-month high of $52.93.

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

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 given a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. eBay’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.69%.

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

eBay 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.