Old North State Trust LLC Increases Stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Old North State Trust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 897 shares of the game software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EA. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WealthPLAN Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management increased its position in Electronic Arts by 70.1% during the 2nd quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 262 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 90.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EA shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $159.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 11th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In other news, COO Laura Miele sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.59, for a total transaction of $241,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,170,725.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.07, for a total transaction of $96,856.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,674,111.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Laura Miele sold 2,000 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.59, for a total value of $241,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,586 shares in the company, valued at $4,170,725.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,604 shares of company stock worth $2,831,654. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of EA opened at $120.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.63 billion, a PE ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.90. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12-month low of $108.53 and a 12-month high of $140.30. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $126.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.79.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The game software company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 19.49% and a net margin of 11.78%. Equities research analysts forecast that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 30th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 29th. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is 23.53%.

Electronic Arts Company 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.