Royal Bank of Canada Raises Stock Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 130.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,201,353 shares of the game software company's stock after buying an additional 679,032 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.46% of Electronic Arts worth $175,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,216 shares in the company, valued at $3,801,320. The trade was a 3.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.50, for a total transaction of $712,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,647,637.50. The trade was a 13.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,729 shares of company stock valued at $4,107,664. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on EA shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Electronic Arts from $145.00 to $142.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $158.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Electronic Arts from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.29.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

EA stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $147.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,188,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,728,185. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.21 and a 52-week high of $168.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $145.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.02. The company has a market cap of $36.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.74.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Electronic Arts's payout ratio is presently 17.92%.

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.