Ballentine Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 19.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,413 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after buying an additional 1,536 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in eBay were worth $497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EBAY. First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in shares of eBay during the 1st quarter worth $242,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of eBay by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,557 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank boosted its position in shares of eBay by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 600 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of eBay by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 19,958 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of eBay by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 91,318 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $4,820,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EBAY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of eBay from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of eBay from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of eBay from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of eBay from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of eBay from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total transaction of $52,110.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,109.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other eBay news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $220,324.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total value of $52,110.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 37,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,109.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,558 shares of company stock valued at $3,001,254. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

eBay Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ EBAY opened at $54.01 on Tuesday. eBay Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.17 and a 12 month high of $55.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.18 and a 200-day moving average of $48.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The company has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.32.

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

eBay Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. eBay’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.51%.

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

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.