State Street Corp Raises Position in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 5.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,072,959 shares of the game software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 932,024 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned 6.82% of Electronic Arts worth $2,726,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EA. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,355,950 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $695,645,000 after buying an additional 193,442 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,112,305 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $656,735,000 after purchasing an additional 378,824 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,945,702 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $570,233,000 after purchasing an additional 88,767 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 197.5% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,916,693 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $421,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,313 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,819,359 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $407,454,000 after purchasing an additional 155,402 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In other news, Director Jeff Huber sold 79,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.17, for a total transaction of $15,969,075.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $1,005,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 48,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,822,900.90. This represents a 9.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 134,869 shares of company stock valued at $26,878,477 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Electronic Arts stock opened at $203.82 on Wednesday. Electronic Arts Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.21 and a fifty-two week high of $204.64. The company has a market capitalization of $50.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $201.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The game software company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.07). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 12.14%.The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Electronic Arts’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on EA. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $148.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Cowen downgraded Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.21.

Electronic Arts Profile

Electronic Arts Inc develops, markets, publishes, and distributes games, content, and services for game consoles, PCs, mobile phones, and tablets worldwide. It develops and publishes games and services across various genres, such as sports, racing, first-person shooter, action, role-playing, and simulation primarily under the Battlefield, The Sims, Apex Legends, Need for Speed, and license games from others, including FIFA, Madden NFL, UFC, and Star Wars brands.