Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Lowers Holdings in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its stake in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,283,825 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after selling 48,161 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in eBay were worth $56,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EBAY. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of eBay by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,418,131 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $547,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534,030 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of eBay by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 48,038,931 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $2,131,487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,766 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of eBay by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,839,329 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $254,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491,485 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of eBay by 82.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,118,490 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $138,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of eBay in the 4th quarter worth about $50,018,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EBAY opened at $49.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.07 and a 200 day moving average of $44.20. The company has a market cap of $25.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 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. eBay Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.17 and a 12-month high of $52.93.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The e-commerce company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 29.16% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that eBay Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

eBay declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the e-commerce company to repurchase 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 shares are undervalued.

eBay Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This is an increase from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. eBay’s payout ratio is 20.69%.

Insider Activity at eBay

In related news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 1,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,372,140.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EBAY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on eBay in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on eBay from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on eBay from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on eBay from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on eBay from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, eBay presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.21.

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.