First Trust Advisors LP Trims Stake in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 43.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 853,542 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 659,759 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.34% of Electronic Arts worth $174,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ABN Amro Investment Solutions boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 12,935 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $2,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46,781 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $9,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 122.0% in the first quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 213,193 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $43,464,000 after purchasing an additional 117,139 shares during the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 8.6% in the first quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 1,259 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 31.0% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,045 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In related news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.00, for a total transaction of $243,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,360 shares in the company, valued at $5,351,080. The trade was a 4.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.66, for a total value of $1,021,609.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 85,974 shares in the company, valued at $17,337,516.84. The trade was a 5.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 31,206 shares of company stock worth $6,292,058 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Electronic Arts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Argus lowered Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.64.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $208.95 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.73. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.97 and a 1-year high of $209.34.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.78%.

About Electronic Arts

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.