Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Makes New $12.73 Million Investment in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 63,094 shares of the game software company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,726,000. Electronic Arts comprises approximately 1.6% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,217,029 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $673,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,336 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 176.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,898 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $297,465,000 after buying an additional 1,189,455 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,072,959 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $2,726,552,000 after buying an additional 932,024 shares during the period. Man Group plc increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 165.5% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,279,249 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $204,296,000 after acquiring an additional 797,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 50.3% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,365,221 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $377,726,000 after acquiring an additional 791,978 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EA opened at $204.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $203.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.30. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.21 and a 52 week high of $204.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.02 billion, a PE ratio of 59.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EA shares. HSBC lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on Electronic Arts and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In other Electronic Arts 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 value of $15,969,075.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.11, for a total transaction of $510,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 53,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,848,038.28. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 123,769 shares of company stock valued at $24,943,734 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.