Empirical Finance LLC Grows Position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,854 shares of the game software company’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $1,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EA. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 90.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In related news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 7,384 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.91, for a total value of $1,106,935.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,675,692.90. This represents a 19.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.88, for a total value of $372,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,448,493.36. This represents a 4.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,144 shares of company stock worth $3,886,282. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

EA stock opened at $161.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.44. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.92 and a 12-month high of $164.42. The firm has a market cap of $42.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is currently 19.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on EA shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Electronic Arts to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Electronic Arts from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.37.

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.