Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. decreased its position in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,920 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in eBay were worth $564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of eBay by 3.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,316 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its position 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. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of eBay by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,233 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of eBay by 5.8% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 5,560 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of eBay by 2.9% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,121 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Stock Performance

eBay stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.45. 4,319,940 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,498,478. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.12. eBay Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.17 and a 12 month high of $52.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 2.44.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The e-commerce company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. eBay had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 29.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that eBay Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

eBay Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. eBay’s dividend payout ratio is 20.69%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EBAY shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of eBay from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of eBay in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of eBay from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of eBay from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of eBay from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, eBay presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 1,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $50,129.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,888 shares in the company, valued at $1,372,140.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

eBay 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.