EBAY INC. $62 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $74.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) has settled a long-standing dispute with classified advertising website Craigslist.
In 2004, eBay acquired a 28.4% stake in the privately held company for $32 million. However, Craigslist accused eBay of using its confidential information to launch a rival classified ad service in the U.S. in 2007. Under the settlement, eBay has sold its shares back to Craigslist for an undisclosed amount.
The deal should help speed up eBay’s plan spin off its PayPal online payments division as a separate company later this year. The remaining firm will focus on auction websites.
eBay is still a hold.