Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Sells 2,605 Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC reduced its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 26.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,272 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 2,605 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $1,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EA. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 2nd quarter worth about $214,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 34.8% during 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. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Electronic Arts by 5.7% during 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 during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the second quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, NatWest Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the third quarter valued at approximately $10,414,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Capital lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Electronic Arts from $206.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Electronic Arts from $166.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Monday, September 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Electronic Arts presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.21.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of Electronic Arts stock opened at $204.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.73. Electronic Arts Inc. has a one year low of $115.21 and a one 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.79.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The game software company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 12.14%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. Analysts forecast that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In related news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total value of $302,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,128,231.75. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.06, for a total value of $502,650.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 55,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,188,586.88. The trade was a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 122,469 shares of company stock worth $24,650,681 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Electronic Arts Company Profile

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.