Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Holdings in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 229,406 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after selling 8,796 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in eBay were worth $10,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EBAY. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of eBay by 8.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,092 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of eBay by 13.2% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 12,242 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 1,430 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of eBay by 8.8% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,403 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of eBay by 46.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 93,011 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $4,101,000 after buying an additional 29,708 shares during the period. Finally, Harrington Investments INC increased its stake in shares of eBay by 1.5% in the third quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 36,371 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $1,604,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. 87.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at eBay

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

eBay Stock Performance

Shares of EBAY stock opened at $51.25 on Wednesday. eBay Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.17 and a 12 month high of $52.93. The stock has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.38.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The e-commerce company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.04. eBay had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 29.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that eBay Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

eBay Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is a boost from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. eBay’s payout ratio is 20.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on EBAY. Morgan Stanley raised shares of eBay from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of eBay in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of eBay from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.21.

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.