Employees Retirement System of Texas Takes Position in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 26,957 shares of the game software company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,305,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EA. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 70.1% in the 2nd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 165 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,023 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 56.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 208 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 636 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, STF Management LP raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. STF Management LP now owns 3,944 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Arete Research set a $192.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Electronic Arts from $148.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Electronic Arts currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.64.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In related news, Director Jeff Huber sold 79,381 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.17, for a total value of $15,969,075.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 137,369 shares of company stock worth $27,307,702 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Electronic Arts Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of EA opened at $201.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.04, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.21 and a 1-year high of $203.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $197.15 and a 200 day moving average of $171.67.

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

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

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

Electronic Arts Company 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.