Electronic Arts Inc. $EA Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 71.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,531 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 253,076 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $20,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 70.1% during the second quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 165 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 5,125 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Electronic Arts by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,023 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, STF Management LP increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. STF Management LP now owns 3,944 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.40, for a total value of $1,322,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,045,476. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $1,005,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 48,858 shares in the company, valued at $9,822,900.90. The trade was a 9.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 136,169 shares of company stock valued at $27,378,636. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EA shares. UBS Group set a $210.00 price target on Electronic Arts and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Electronic Arts from $206.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $200.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.21.

Key Stores Impacting Electronic Arts

Here are the key news stories impacting Electronic Arts this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Shareholders overwhelmingly approved the $55B take-private deal, clearing a major vote hurdle and making the $210/ share buyout likelier to close — the primary driver of the stock’s upside today. Shareholders approve EA’s record $55 billion take-private deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Gaming-community backlash over alleged AI-generated Battlefield 6 cosmetics is a reputational issue for EA but is unlikely to move the stock materially relative to the takeover news. Battlefield 6 players slam EA over suspected AI-generated cosmetic
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped sharply in mid-December to ~6.54M shares (a ~73% increase from Nov. 30), representing ~2.6% of float and ~3.0 days-to-cover — a sign some traders are wagering the deal or regulatory approval could be derailed, which could add volatility or downward pressure if those bets accelerate.
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder-law firm Johnson Fistel has opened an investigation into potential fiduciary breaches by EA’s board relating to the $210/ share merger agreement, introducing litigation and closing-risk that could complicate or delay the transaction. Johnson Fistel investigates potential fiduciary breaches
• Neutral Sentiment: One data entry shows an erroneous/zero short-interest print for Dec. 24 (likely a reporting anomaly); treat that as noise until confirmed by exchanges.

Electronic Arts Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:EA opened at $204.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.21 and a 12-month high of $204.84.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The game software company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.07). Electronic Arts had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

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

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.