MJP Associates Inc. ADV Invests $578,000 in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 9,335 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock, valued at approximately $578,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smithfield Trust Co increased its stake in eBay by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 4,411 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in eBay by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in eBay by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,417 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of eBay by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,226 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of eBay by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 34,651 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

eBay Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of EBAY opened at $69.51 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.22. The stock has a market cap of $32.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.30. eBay Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.02 and a 12 month high of $71.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 30.97% and a net margin of 19.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

eBay Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. eBay’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on eBay from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark boosted their price target on eBay from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of eBay in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on eBay from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on eBay from $80.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 1,167 shares of eBay stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.21, for a total transaction of $77,267.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,946.80. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 7,500 shares of eBay stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total value of $497,625.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 590,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,153,665.80. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,685 shares of company stock worth $4,121,245 over the last quarter. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.