Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 588,108 shares of the game software company's stock after buying an additional 64,935 shares during the period. Electronic Arts accounts for 1.2% of Stephens Investment Management Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned 0.23% of Electronic Arts worth $84,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EA. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Electronic Arts by 689.3% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,238,496 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $178,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081,589 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Electronic Arts by 224.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,207,854 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $176,709,000 after purchasing an additional 835,985 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Electronic Arts by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,201,353 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $175,758,000 after purchasing an additional 679,032 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Electronic Arts by 11,587.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 669,367 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $96,737,000 after purchasing an additional 663,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth $96,698,000. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on EA. Wedbush raised shares of Electronic Arts to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $153.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $162.71.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In other news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.64, for a total transaction of $224,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,623,638.12. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 6,563 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.18, for a total transaction of $992,194.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 70,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,591,519.62. This trade represents a 8.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,729 shares of company stock valued at $4,788,684 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Electronic Arts Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:EA traded up $0.61 on Wednesday, hitting $149.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,889,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,815,765. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $37.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.73. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.21 and a 1 year high of $168.50. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $150.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.55.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. Electronic Arts's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.