JPMorgan Chase & Co. Initiates Coverage on eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target on the e-commerce company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 11.09% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on EBAY. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on eBay from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of eBay from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of eBay in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on eBay from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.71.

eBay Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EBAY opened at $54.01 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.18 and a 200-day moving average of $48.00. The firm has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. eBay has a twelve month low of $37.17 and a twelve month high of $55.15.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The e-commerce company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. eBay had a net margin of 25.97% and a return on equity of 29.11%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that eBay will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other eBay news, SVP Marie Oh Huber sold 49,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.63, for a total value of $2,435,344.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 177,391 shares in the company, valued at $8,803,915.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other eBay news, SVP Marie Oh Huber sold 49,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.63, for a total value of $2,435,344.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 177,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,803,915.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Rebecca Spencer sold 2,083 shares of eBay stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.62, for a total value of $111,690.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $220,324.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,558 shares of company stock worth $3,001,254 in the last quarter. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of eBay

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of eBay by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,929,188 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $3,321,403,000 after purchasing an additional 4,524,934 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in eBay by 39.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,418,131 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $547,516,000 after buying an additional 3,534,030 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in eBay during the first quarter worth about $97,557,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of eBay by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,839,329 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $254,712,000 after buying an additional 1,491,485 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of eBay in the 1st quarter valued at about $73,777,000. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

eBay Company 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.