Panagora Asset Management Inc. Acquires 501,989 Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 3,284.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 517,273 shares of the game software company’s stock after purchasing an additional 501,989 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Electronic Arts worth $82,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EA. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the 2nd quarter worth $214,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 34.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 40,483 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the first quarter valued at about $319,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 5.7% in the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 278,069 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $44,408,000 after purchasing an additional 15,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the second quarter valued at about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $201.93 on Monday. Electronic Arts Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.21 and a twelve month high of $203.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $50.50 billion, a PE ratio of 59.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day moving average is $198.30 and its 200 day moving average is $172.58.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EA shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Monday, September 29th. Oppenheimer downgraded Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Baird R W cut Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeff Huber sold 79,381 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.55, for a total value of $1,002,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,501,916.15. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,369 shares of company stock worth $27,307,702. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.