EBay's Stock Gains After Piper Jaffray Upgrade

EBay Inc.'s stock edged up 0.7% in premarket trade Thursday, after the e-commerce company was upgraded by Piper Jaffray on the belief the current valuation fully reflects the challenges the company faces. Analyst Gene Munster raised his rating to neutral from underweight, but cut his stock price target to $30, which is 12% above current levels, from $50. "While historically consumers have used the Internet for price discovery and comparison, we believe that e-commerce has matured such that consumers are more intrigued with e-commerce as a convenience method of shopping. This is disadvantageous to eBay's experience, which requires some level of hunt-and-peck shopping," Munster wrote in a note to clients. "Having said that...valuation suggests limited downside." The stock has gained 3% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has lost 7.8%. Shares of PayPal Holdings , the e-payment company spun off from eBay in July, have lost 4.4% since the first day of trade.