eBay Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:EBAY)

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 19,826 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 45% compared to the average volume of 13,640 call options.

Insider Transactions at eBay

In other news, SVP Mazen Rawashdeh sold 1,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.90, for a total transaction of $157,248.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,597.40. This represents a 25.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 7,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.08, for a total transaction of $585,478.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,117,123.48. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,675 shares of company stock valued at $4,388,825. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of eBay

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EBAY. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in eBay by 433.9% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 331 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in eBay in the third quarter worth about $27,000. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new stake in eBay in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of eBay in the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in eBay during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EBAY. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of eBay in a report on Monday, October 20th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on eBay in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of eBay from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on eBay from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.41.

eBay Stock Up 0.5%

eBay stock traded up $0.50 on Wednesday, hitting $92.01. 1,191,602 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,676,893. eBay has a 1 year low of $58.71 and a 1 year high of $101.15. The firm has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The e-commerce company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.03. eBay had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 41.94%. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. eBay has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.090-4.140 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.310-1.360 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that eBay will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. eBay’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.22%.

About eBay

eBay Inc is a global e-commerce company that operates an online marketplace connecting individual consumers and businesses for the sale and purchase of new, used and collectible goods. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar and headquartered in San Jose, California, eBay grew from its early auction-style site into a diversified platform offering both auction-format listings and fixed-price “Buy It Now” transactions. The company completed an initial public offering in the late 1990s and has since evolved its platform and services to support a broad range of product categories and buyer preferences.

The company’s core business centers on its marketplace platform, which provides listing, search and transaction capabilities for millions of items across consumer goods, electronics, fashion, collectibles and more.