eBay Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:EBAY)

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 15,502 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the average volume of 10,355 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total value of $52,110.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,109.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other eBay news, SVP Marie Oh Huber sold 49,070 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.63, for a total value of $2,435,344.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 37,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,109.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,558 shares of company stock worth $3,001,254 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On eBay

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBAY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in eBay by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,929,188 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $3,321,403,000 after acquiring an additional 4,524,934 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in eBay in the 1st quarter worth $97,557,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in eBay in the 1st quarter worth $73,777,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in eBay in the 4th quarter worth $53,019,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of eBay by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,248,438 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $272,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Stock Performance

eBay stock opened at $54.18 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $53.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.31. eBay has a fifty-two week low of $37.17 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The e-commerce company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. eBay had a net margin of 25.97% and a return on equity of 29.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that eBay will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EBAY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of eBay in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of eBay in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of eBay from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of eBay from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of eBay from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.84.

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.