USA Financial Formulas Invests $1.96 Million in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 9,696 shares of the game software company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,956,000. Electronic Arts accounts for approximately 0.3% of USA Financial Formulas’ portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EA. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the first quarter worth approximately $225,102,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,217,029 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $673,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,336 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 176.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,898 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $297,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189,455 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 300.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,454,006 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $210,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,072,959 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $2,726,552,000 after purchasing an additional 932,024 shares during the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EA shares. DZ Bank cut Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Cowen downgraded Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. HSBC lowered Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Argus set a $210.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $166.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.21.

Electronic Arts Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $203.92 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.63, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.76. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.21 and a 52-week high of $204.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Electronic Arts had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 15.30%. Electronic Arts’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. Analysts expect that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid 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 is Wednesday, December 3rd. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total transaction of $302,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,128,231.75. The trade was a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.11, for a total value of $1,020,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 43,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,951,856.38. This represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 141,169 shares of company stock worth $28,242,586. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.