Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,478 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 897 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $10,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EA. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,671,657 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $954,358,000 after buying an additional 26,505 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,789,283 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $261,772,000 after acquiring an additional 23,289 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Electronic Arts by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,607,817 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $235,224,000 after purchasing an additional 95,190 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,520 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $213,089,000 after purchasing an additional 36,153 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 353.4% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,269,258 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $185,692,000 after purchasing an additional 989,319 shares during the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $145.00 to $142.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ascendiant Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Electronic Arts from $158.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Electronic Arts from $161.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.78.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

EA opened at $136.79 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $35.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.21 and a 1-year high of $168.50.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.34%.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In other news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $234,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,886 shares in the company, valued at $3,888,935.22. This trade represents a 5.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $740,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,615 shares in the company, valued at $7,047,020. This represents a 9.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,428,645. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company 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.