Short Interest in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) Declines By 6.2%

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,910,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the November 30th total of 22,300,000 shares. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EBAY. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of eBay in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of eBay from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of eBay from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of eBay in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered eBay from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 3,989 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total value of $260,082.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 71,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,659,778.80. This represents a 5.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 5,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.09, for a total value of $371,756.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 559,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,963,542.19. This trade represents a 1.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,908 shares of company stock worth $2,110,731. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EBAY. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in eBay by 1.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 594,161 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $38,686,000 after purchasing an additional 9,990 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of eBay in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,132,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of eBay by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 986,165 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $64,209,000 after buying an additional 209,433 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of eBay by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 784,378 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $52,459,000 after buying an additional 99,561 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in eBay by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 67,209 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $4,376,000 after buying an additional 4,677 shares in the last quarter. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

eBay Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBAY traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.26. The company had a trading volume of 206,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,253,128. eBay has a 12 month low of $40.16 and a 12 month high of $67.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $29.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.99.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. eBay’s payout ratio is presently 27.14%.

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.