Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Stake in eBay Inc. $EBAY

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its stake in eBay by 9.5% in Q4, selling 108,721 shares and ending the quarter with 1,033,057 shares worth about $90 million (≈0.23% of the company).
• eBay beat Q4 expectations, reporting $1.41 EPS vs. $1.35 est. and $2.97B revenue (+15% YoY), set Q1 2026 EPS guidance of $1.53–$1.59, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 ($1.24 annual, ~1.3% yield).
• Insiders sold shares during the quarter (SVP sold 33,441 shares; CEO sold 21,000), institutional ownership remains high at ~87.5%, and analysts hold a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of about $98.13.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY - Free Report) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,033,057 shares of the e-commerce company's stock after selling 108,721 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of eBay worth $89,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EBAY. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in eBay in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in eBay in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new position in eBay in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in eBay by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 318 shares of the e-commerce company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in eBay in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company's stock.

eBay Stock Performance

Shares of EBAY opened at $98.15 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $89.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.62. eBay Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.25 and a 52-week high of $101.15. The firm has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The e-commerce company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.06. eBay had a return on equity of 43.04% and a net margin of 18.30%.The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. eBay's quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. eBay has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.530-1.590 EPS. Analysts forecast that eBay Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

eBay Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from eBay's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. eBay's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on EBAY. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded eBay from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on eBay from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on eBay from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. President Capital upped their price target on eBay from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on eBay from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, eBay has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jordan Douglas Bradle Sweetnam sold 33,441 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.99, for a total transaction of $3,076,237.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,733 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $435,388.67. This represents a 87.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 21,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.37, for a total value of $2,044,770.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 352,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,337,822.61. This represents a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 108,280 shares of company stock valued at $10,111,844. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

eBay Profile

eBay Inc is a global e-commerce company that operates an online marketplace connecting individual consumers and businesses for the sale and purchase of new, used and collectible goods. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar and headquartered in San Jose, California, eBay grew from its early auction-style site into a diversified platform offering both auction-format listings and fixed-price "Buy It Now" transactions. The company completed an initial public offering in the late 1990s and has since evolved its platform and services to support a broad range of product categories and buyer preferences.

The company's core business centers on its marketplace platform, which provides listing, search and transaction capabilities for millions of items across consumer goods, electronics, fashion, collectibles and more.

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