Electronic Arts Inc. $EA Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC trimmed its position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 71.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 101,531 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 253,076 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $20,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EA. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,420 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 421.2% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 589 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 266.5% in the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 5,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 15.6% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,504 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In other Electronic Arts news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.06, for a total value of $502,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 55,648 shares in the company, valued at $11,188,586.88. The trade was a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $1,005,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 48,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,822,900.90. This trade represents a 9.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 136,169 shares of company stock worth $27,378,636. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Electronic Arts News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Electronic Arts this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Shareholders overwhelmingly approved the $55B take-private deal, clearing a major vote hurdle and making the $210/ share buyout likelier to close — the primary driver of the stock’s upside today. Shareholders approve EA’s record $55 billion take-private deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Gaming-community backlash over alleged AI-generated Battlefield 6 cosmetics is a reputational issue for EA but is unlikely to move the stock materially relative to the takeover news. Battlefield 6 players slam EA over suspected AI-generated cosmetic
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped sharply in mid-December to ~6.54M shares (a ~73% increase from Nov. 30), representing ~2.6% of float and ~3.0 days-to-cover — a sign some traders are wagering the deal or regulatory approval could be derailed, which could add volatility or downward pressure if those bets accelerate.
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder-law firm Johnson Fistel has opened an investigation into potential fiduciary breaches by EA’s board relating to the $210/ share merger agreement, introducing litigation and closing-risk that could complicate or delay the transaction. Johnson Fistel investigates potential fiduciary breaches
• Neutral Sentiment: One data entry shows an erroneous/zero short-interest print for Dec. 24 (likely a reporting anomaly); treat that as noise until confirmed by exchanges.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

EA stock opened at $204.94 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.45. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.21 and a 52 week high of $204.84. The stock has a market cap of $51.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The game software company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.07). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 12.14%.The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EA shares. UBS Group set a $210.00 price target on Electronic Arts and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.21.

Electronic Arts Company Profile

Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: EA) is a global interactive entertainment company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, EA develops, publishes and distributes video games and related content for a variety of platforms, including consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. The company combines in-house development, partnerships and studio acquisitions to create and maintain a portfolio of entertainment properties and live-service experiences for players worldwide.

EA’s product lineup spans several well-known franchises and genres.