Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stock Position in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,089 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in eBay were worth $3,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EBAY. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in eBay by 5,091.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 142,051 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $8,800,000 after acquiring an additional 139,315 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of eBay by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 206,425 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $12,966,000 after buying an additional 3,514 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of eBay by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,267 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of eBay by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 67,643 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $4,190,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of eBay by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 27,920 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Price Performance

Shares of EBAY opened at $77.36 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.27. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $51.72 and a one year high of $79.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.22 and its 200-day moving average is $67.30.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 30.97% and a net margin of 19.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. eBay’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.62%.

Insider Activity at eBay

In related news, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.21, for a total transaction of $77,267.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,946.80. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $497,625.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 590,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,153,665.80. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 296,279 shares of company stock valued at $20,872,193 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EBAY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on eBay from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Daiwa America upgraded eBay from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Cfra Research upgraded eBay to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded eBay from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of eBay in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, eBay currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.73.

eBay Company 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.