eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,080,000 shares, a decrease of 9.5% from the October 15th total of 21,090,000 shares. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,820,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 3,974 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total transaction of $256,760.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 70,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,530,000.93. This trade represents a 5.36 % 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, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.91, for a total transaction of $1,597,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,494,918.12. This trade represents a 26.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,016 shares of company stock worth $3,015,417. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On eBay

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in eBay in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in eBay by 894.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 517 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in eBay in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in eBay in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of eBay by 86.3% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 613 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. 87.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBAY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of eBay from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of eBay from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of eBay from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of eBay from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of eBay from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, eBay has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.87.

eBay Stock Performance

Shares of eBay stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 804,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,389,441. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.64. The firm has a market cap of $29.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.34. eBay has a fifty-two week low of $38.97 and a fifty-two week high of $67.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

eBay Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. eBay’s payout ratio is 27.14%.

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.