Hills Bank & Trust Co Sells 413 Shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lowered its stake in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,522 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after selling 413 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in eBay were worth $154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in eBay by 39.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in eBay by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,839,329 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $254,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491,485 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in eBay by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,182,095 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $360,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,089 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of eBay by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,980,512 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $175,451,000 after acquiring an additional 599,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of eBay by 604.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 630,956 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $27,522,000 after purchasing an additional 541,384 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EBAY shares. Barclays increased their price target on eBay from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of eBay from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of eBay in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho upped their price target on eBay from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on eBay from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, eBay has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.45.

eBay Trading Up 1.3 %

EBAY traded up $0.65 on Thursday, hitting $50.34. 3,980,531 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,367,234. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. eBay Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.17 and a 12 month high of $52.93.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The e-commerce company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. eBay had a net margin of 25.97% and a return on equity of 29.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that eBay Inc. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

eBay Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. eBay’s payout ratio is currently 21.51%.

eBay announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the e-commerce company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other eBay news, SVP Marie Oh Huber sold 49,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.63, for a total transaction of $2,435,344.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 177,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,803,915.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 177,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,803,915.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 31,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,372,140.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.