Electronic Arts Inc. $EA Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 220.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,846 shares of the game software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,540 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $9,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 197.5% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,916,693 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $421,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,313 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the 1st quarter valued at about $225,102,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the first quarter worth about $203,537,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 62.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,253,505 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $470,197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 176.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,898 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $297,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In other Electronic Arts news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.79, for a total transaction of $504,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 53,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,713,434.68. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.80, for a total value of $240,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,880 shares in the company, valued at $4,995,904. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 32,200 shares of company stock valued at $6,123,572 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

EA stock opened at $201.81 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.82. The company has a market capitalization of $50.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.01, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Electronic Arts Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.21 and a fifty-two week high of $203.75.

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

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. DA Davidson increased their target price on Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $206.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Baird R W cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Arete Research set a $192.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.64.

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.