Farmers Trust Co. Makes New $232,000 Investment in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Farmers Trust Co. bought a new position in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,397 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GHE LLC increased its stake in shares of eBay by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,480 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of eBay by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,411 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of eBay by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of eBay by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,971 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of eBay by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 48,235 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Trading Down 1.3 %

eBay stock opened at $53.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. eBay Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.17 and a 52 week high of $55.15. The company has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.73.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The e-commerce company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.05. eBay had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 25.97%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. eBay’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that eBay Inc. will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

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

eBay Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. eBay’s payout ratio is presently 21.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at eBay

In other eBay news, SVP Marie Oh Huber sold 49,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.63, for a total value of $2,435,344.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 177,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,803,915.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Marie Oh Huber sold 49,070 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.63, for a total transaction of $2,435,344.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 177,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,803,915.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Rebecca Spencer sold 2,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.62, for a total value of $111,690.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $220,324.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,572 shares of company stock valued at $2,949,144. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBAY has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on eBay from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on eBay from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on eBay from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on eBay from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of eBay in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.67.

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.