Blue Trust Inc. Buys 1,733 Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 139.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,975 shares of the game software company’s stock after buying an additional 1,733 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Electronic Arts by 14.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,727,251 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 496.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,511,250 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $333,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090,504 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the first quarter worth $201,935,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Electronic Arts during the first quarter worth $189,055,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Electronic Arts in the second quarter valued at $188,159,000. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EA shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Electronic Arts to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $154.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $143.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.94.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

EA stock opened at $144.86 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $145.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.33. The firm has a market cap of $38.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.92 and a 12 month high of $153.51.

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

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.72, for a total transaction of $217,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,597,739.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 7,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.91, for a total transaction of $1,106,935.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,675,692.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.72, for a total value of $217,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,860 shares in the company, valued at $3,597,739.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,270 shares of company stock valued at $3,287,735. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Electronic Arts

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.