Ethic Inc. Sells 3,560 Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Ethic Inc. lowered its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 11.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,640 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 3,560 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $5,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the 2nd quarter valued at about $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 valued at $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 10,453 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Electronic Arts in the first quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 5.7% in the second 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 stake in Electronic Arts in the second quarter worth $205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $210.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. DZ Bank lowered Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Argus set a $210.00 target price on Electronic Arts in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen lowered Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.21.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

EA stock opened at $204.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $202.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.87. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.21 and a 1 year high of $204.84. The stock has a market cap of $51.09 billion, a PE ratio of 59.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 12.14%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In related news, Director Jeff Huber sold 79,381 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.17, for a total transaction of $15,969,075.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total transaction of $302,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,128,231.75. This trade represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 124,969 shares of company stock worth $25,155,156. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Electronic Arts 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.