Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 2,037 Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in Electronic Arts by 21.8% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 2,037 shares, bringing its total holding to 11,369 shares valued at approximately $1.64 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Nomura Holdings and GAMMA Investing, have recently increased their stakes in Electronic Arts, contributing to a collective ownership by institutional investors of 90.23%.
• In recent analyst ratings, Arete upgraded Electronic Arts to a "buy" rating with a target price of $192.00, while the average price target among analysts is currently $167.12.

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 21.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,369 shares of the game software company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $1,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,052,085 shares of the game software company's stock worth $4,198,607,000 after purchasing an additional 150,438 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.3% in the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,945,702 shares of the game software company's stock worth $570,233,000 after purchasing an additional 88,767 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 15.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,733,481 shares of the game software company's stock worth $539,563,000 after purchasing an additional 504,760 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 62.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,253,505 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $470,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 197.5% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,916,693 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $421,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,313 shares in the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Roth Capital raised Electronic Arts from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Argus set a $170.00 price objective on Electronic Arts in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $168.00 price objective on Electronic Arts and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Electronic Arts from $166.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $167.12.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

EA traded up $4.12 on Wednesday, hitting $170.16. 2,197,288 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,408,453. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.21 and a 52 week high of $180.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a PE ratio of 42.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $162.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.02.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 27th. Electronic Arts's payout ratio is currently 19.05%.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.05, for a total transaction of $855,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,393 shares in the company, valued at $8,961,822.65. The trade was a 8.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.49, for a total value of $388,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,092 shares in the company, valued at $9,032,725.08. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,900 shares of company stock valued at $4,778,597. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.