Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 342,298 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 42,410 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.13% of Electronic Arts worth $46,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 16.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,636,385 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $3,086,621,000 after buying an additional 3,600,388 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 7.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,156,556 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $500,449,000 after buying an additional 301,194 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Electronic Arts by 13.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,389,395 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $408,084,000 after purchasing an additional 389,063 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Electronic Arts by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,171,252 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $381,819,000 after purchasing an additional 60,359 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in Electronic Arts by 82.3% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 2,357,238 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $322,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,022 shares during the period. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Electronic Arts from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Electronic Arts in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Electronic Arts from $146.00 to $143.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $162.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeff Huber sold 11,872 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.90, for a total transaction of $1,684,636.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 79,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,264,163.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Laura Miele sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.43, for a total value of $274,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 38,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,297,651.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeff Huber sold 11,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.90, for a total transaction of $1,684,636.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 79,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,264,163.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,144 shares of company stock worth $5,114,335. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

EA stock traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $126.84. The stock had a trading volume of 348,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,762. The stock has a market cap of $33.91 billion, a PE ratio of 32.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.56. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.47 and a 52-week high of $144.53.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The game software company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.38). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 14.09%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Electronic Arts’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

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.