Electronic Arts Inc. $EA Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its stake in Electronic Arts by 16.3% in Q3, selling 37,741 shares and leaving it with 193,236 shares worth about $38.98 million (≈0.08% of EA).
• Other large institutions increased positions—State Street, Ameriprise, Invesco, First Trust and Arrowstreet all boosted holdings, and institutional investors now own 90.23% of the stock.
• Analyst consensus is "Hold" (3 Buys, 19 Holds, 1 Sell) with an average price target of $188.30; EA announced a $0.19 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.76, ~0.4% yield) while insiders sold about 27,600 shares (~$5.59M) in the last quarter.

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 16.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 193,236 shares of the game software company's stock after selling 37,741 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.08% of Electronic Arts worth $38,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Electronic Arts by 5.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,072,959 shares of the game software company's stock worth $2,726,552,000 after purchasing an additional 932,024 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 44.6% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,217,029 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $673,393,000 after buying an additional 1,300,336 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 10.1% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,112,305 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $656,735,000 after buying an additional 378,824 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,069,543 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $619,127,000 after buying an additional 638,667 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 50.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,365,221 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $377,726,000 after buying an additional 791,978 shares during the period. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EA has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Electronic Arts from $207.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $188.30.

Electronic Arts Stock Down 1.4%

EA stock opened at $198.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $49.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.44, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Electronic Arts Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.15 and a twelve month high of $204.88. The company's 50 day moving average is $202.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.13.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In other Electronic Arts news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $299,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,897 shares in the company, valued at $1,178,810.30. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.53, for a total value of $498,825.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,645,878.79. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 27,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,589,823 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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