Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Stake in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 30.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,692 shares of the game software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,033 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $5,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EA. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.1% in the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,467 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 4,563 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Electronic Arts by 1,123.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 412,503 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $83,202,000 after purchasing an additional 378,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Electronic Arts by 32.3% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $204.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.05 billion, a PE ratio of 59.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.97. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.21 and a 1 year high of $204.88. 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 (NASDAQ:EA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The game software company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.07). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 12.14%.The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,200 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.11, for a total transaction of $244,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 33,560 shares in the company, valued at $6,849,931.60. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeff Huber sold 16,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.72, for a total transaction of $3,369,687.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $397,425.60. This trade represents a 89.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 122,469 shares of company stock valued at $24,650,681. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on EA shares. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. DZ Bank lowered Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Electronic Arts from $148.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Electronic Arts has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.21.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: EA) is a global interactive entertainment company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, EA develops, publishes and distributes video games and related content for a variety of platforms, including consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. The company combines in-house development, partnerships and studio acquisitions to create and maintain a portfolio of entertainment properties and live-service experiences for players worldwide.

EA’s product lineup spans several well-known franchises and genres.