Groupe la Francaise Raises Stock Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,707 shares of the game software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,463 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $4,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 70.1% in the 2nd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 165 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Electronic Arts by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,023 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 636 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. STF Management LP increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. STF Management LP now owns 3,944 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 67.5% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 196 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total transaction of $302,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,128,231.75. This trade represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeff Huber sold 79,381 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.17, for a total value of $15,969,075.77. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 134,869 shares of company stock worth $26,878,477. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on EA shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. DZ Bank cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Electronic Arts from $166.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.64.

Electronic Arts Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:EA opened at $203.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.76. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.21 and a 12-month high of $203.75.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The game software company reported $0.65 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

About Electronic Arts

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.