Electronic Arts Inc. $EA Shares Bought by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,004,017 shares of the game software company’s stock after buying an additional 584,672 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $316,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter valued at $214,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew 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 worth $6,467,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Electronic Arts in the first quarter worth about $319,000. Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 278,069 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $44,408,000 after acquiring an additional 15,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter valued at about $205,000. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total transaction of $302,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,128,231.75. The trade was a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $1,005,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 48,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,822,900.90. This trade represents a 9.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 134,869 shares of company stock valued at $26,878,477 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

NASDAQ EA opened at $203.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.95 billion, a PE ratio of 59.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.76. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.21 and a 12-month high of $204.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $201.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.02.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The game software company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. HSBC downgraded Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $166.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.21.

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.