Yacktman Asset Management LP Sells 26,460 Shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Yacktman Asset Management LP decreased its position in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,922,730 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after selling 26,460 shares during the quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings in eBay were worth $127,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EBAY. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of eBay in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of eBay during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Cambridge Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of eBay by 135.0% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 1,175 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of eBay in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in eBay during the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on EBAY shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on eBay from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of eBay in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of eBay from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded eBay from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.21.

eBay Stock Up 1.4 %

eBay stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.05. The company had a trading volume of 3,131,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,345,635. eBay Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.17 and a 12 month high of $52.93. The company has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The e-commerce company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. eBay’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that eBay Inc. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

eBay Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. eBay’s payout ratio is presently 20.69%.

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

Insider Activity at eBay

In other news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 1,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $50,129.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,372,140.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.