Sovran Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,509 Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,509 shares of the game software company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Electronic Arts by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,671,657 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $954,358,000 after purchasing an additional 26,505 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,607,817 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $235,224,000 after buying an additional 95,190 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,099,746 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $160,893,000 after buying an additional 373,730 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 940,942 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $134,969,000 after acquiring an additional 206,623 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Electronic Arts by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,899 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $124,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,797 shares during the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on EA shares. DZ Bank raised shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $177.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $173.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Electronic Arts from $167.00 to $159.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.83, for a total transaction of $327,075.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,216,256.62. This trade represents a 5.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.45, for a total value of $164,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,969,021.20. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,500 shares of company stock worth $3,644,635 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

EA stock opened at $129.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.02. The stock has a market cap of $33.83 billion, a PE ratio of 33.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.79. Electronic Arts Inc. has a one year low of $115.21 and a one year high of $168.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 14.28%. On average, analysts predict that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is 19.34%.

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.