Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $41.85 Million Stock Holdings in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 617,831 shares of the e-commerce company's stock after buying an additional 25,587 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of eBay worth $41,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in eBay by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,353 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Optas LLC increased its holdings in shares of eBay by 0.5% in the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 34,160 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $2,314,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of eBay by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. increased its holdings in shares of eBay by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 10,642 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in shares of eBay by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,856 shares of the e-commerce company's stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other eBay news, SVP Julie A. Loeger sold 92,895 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $6,694,013.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 123,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,883,700.92. This represents a 42.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jordan Douglas Bradle Sweetnam sold 22,207 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $1,666,413.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 22,206 shares in the company, valued at $1,666,338.24. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 326,183 shares of company stock valued at $23,490,942 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on EBAY shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on eBay from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised eBay from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised eBay from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on eBay from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of eBay from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.85.

eBay Price Performance

NASDAQ EBAY traded down $0.58 on Tuesday, reaching $75.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,405,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,040,291. The firm has a market cap of $34.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.67. eBay Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.15 and a 52 week high of $79.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The e-commerce company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.55 billion. eBay had a net margin of 19.78% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

eBay Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. eBay's dividend payout ratio is 27.62%.

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.