Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 220.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,846 shares of the game software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,540 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $9,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EA. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter worth $214,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $6,467,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the 1st quarter worth about $319,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.7% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the 2nd quarter valued at about $205,000. 90.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EA. Wells Fargo & Company set a $168.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $206.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Electronic Arts from $148.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.64.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Electronic Arts stock opened at $201.81 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $193.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.82. The company has a market capitalization of $50.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.74. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.21 and a 12-month high of $203.75.

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

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.79, for a total value of $504,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 53,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,713,434.68. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.31, for a total transaction of $240,372.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,331 shares in the company, valued at $6,476,222.61. This trade represents a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 32,200 shares of company stock worth $6,123,572 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Electronic Arts 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.