Electronic Arts Inc. $EA Holdings Lifted by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 26.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,069,543 shares of the game software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 638,667 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.23% of Electronic Arts worth $619,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EA. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Electronic Arts by 31.4% during the third quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,015 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in Electronic Arts in the third quarter worth approximately $3,935,000. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. acquired a new position in Electronic Arts in the third quarter worth approximately $2,995,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 23.8% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $950,000 after buying an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 10.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 134,605 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $27,150,000 after buying an additional 12,755 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research lowered Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on Electronic Arts from $207.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $188.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Electronic Arts news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.11, for a total transaction of $510,275.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 53,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,848,038.28. The trade was a 4.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.11, for a total value of $1,020,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 43,858 shares in the company, valued at $8,951,856.38. This represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,600 shares of company stock worth $5,589,823. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Electronic Arts Trading Down 1.4%

Electronic Arts stock opened at $198.00 on Friday. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.15 and a 52 week high of $204.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $202.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.95.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

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.