Raymond James & Associates Grows Stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 10.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 129,387 shares of the game software company’s stock after buying an additional 12,468 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $18,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Electronic Arts by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,159,718 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $3,868,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,727,251 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 496.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,511,250 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $333,169,000 after buying an additional 2,090,504 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the first quarter valued at approximately $201,935,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the first quarter valued at approximately $189,055,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the second quarter worth approximately $188,159,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

EA stock opened at $145.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45. Electronic Arts Inc. has a one year low of $119.92 and a one year high of $153.51. The firm has a market cap of $38.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.79.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The game software company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.06. Electronic Arts had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 5.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Electronic Arts news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.88, for a total transaction of $372,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,448,493.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.37, for a total value of $186,946.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,553 shares in the company, valued at $1,120,638.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.88, for a total transaction of $372,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,448,493.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,270 shares of company stock valued at $3,287,735. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on EA. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Electronic Arts has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.94.

Electronic Arts 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.