Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Decreases Position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 15.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,508 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 801 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EA. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 23.9% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 22,867 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $2,753,000 after buying an additional 4,411 shares during the period. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,259,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 429,536 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $53,761,000 after buying an additional 107,709 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 181,757 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $24,866,000 after buying an additional 10,405 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 99.4% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 17,338 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after buying an additional 8,644 shares during the period. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EA. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $153.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Electronic Arts from $146.00 to $143.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Electronic Arts from $160.00 to $154.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Electronic Arts from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

Electronic Arts Stock Down 0.2 %

Electronic Arts stock opened at $137.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.80. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1-year low of $117.47 and a 1-year high of $144.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $130.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.81.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The game software company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 16.83%. Equities research analysts forecast that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is 16.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Electronic Arts news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.66, for a total transaction of $326,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 25,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,388,013.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Eric Charles Kelly sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total value of $401,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,507.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.66, for a total value of $326,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,388,013.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,539 shares of company stock valued at $3,089,969. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.