Retirement Systems of Alabama Raises Stock Position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 650,851 shares of the game software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,910 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $94,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EA. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Electronic Arts by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,420 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Electronic Arts by 269.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 797 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter valued at $107,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its position in Electronic Arts by 894.9% in the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 24,872 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $3,639,000 after purchasing an additional 22,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Electronic Arts by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EA has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $179.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Ascendiant Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.88.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In related news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.69, for a total value of $223,035.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,452,968.12. This represents a 4.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 6,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.18, for a total transaction of $992,194.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,591,519.62. The trade was a 8.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,229 shares of company stock valued at $3,618,199 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EA opened at $151.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Electronic Arts Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.21 and a fifty-two week high of $168.50. The stock has a market cap of $37.87 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.93.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.92%.

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.