Skylands Capital LLC Lowers Stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Skylands Capital LLC lessened its position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,400 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 4,550 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,636,385 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $3,086,621,000 after buying an additional 3,600,388 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Electronic Arts by 82.3% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 2,357,238 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $322,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,022 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts in the third quarter valued at approximately $75,124,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Electronic Arts by 480.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 499,277 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $60,113,000 after purchasing an additional 413,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Electronic Arts by 13.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,389,395 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $408,084,000 after purchasing an additional 389,063 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EA opened at $127.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.76. Electronic Arts Inc. has a one year low of $117.47 and a one year high of $144.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.56.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The game software company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.38). Electronic Arts had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total transaction of $355,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 28,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,048,147.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Electronic Arts news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.39, for a total value of $355,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 28,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,048,147.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.43, for a total transaction of $109,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,683 shares in the company, valued at $3,941,904.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,144 shares of company stock worth $5,114,335. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $162.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Electronic Arts from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $153.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

About Electronic Arts

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.