Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Position in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 219,401 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,221 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in eBay were worth $13,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of eBay by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 53,580 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of eBay by 172.5% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 11,175 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 7,074 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of eBay by 5,091.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 142,051 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $8,800,000 after purchasing an additional 139,315 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of eBay by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,121 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of eBay by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,151,026 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $573,220,000 after purchasing an additional 335,035 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ EBAY opened at $65.78 on Friday. eBay Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.52 and a 1 year high of $71.61. The firm has a market cap of $30.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.68.

eBay Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This is a positive change from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. eBay’s payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBAY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on eBay from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of eBay in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded eBay from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on eBay from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on eBay from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.54.

Insider Activity at eBay

In related news, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 1,033 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.93, for a total value of $67,072.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,225,644.40. The trade was a 1.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 5,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.25, for a total value of $378,281.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 530,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,709,615.50. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,241 shares of company stock valued at $1,061,665 over the last three months. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.