Palisade Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,900 shares of the game software company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EA. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 26.7% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 242 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC raised its position in Electronic Arts by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 24,685 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $5,033,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 931 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Electronic Arts to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Argus cut Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $206.50.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EA opened at $209.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.23 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Electronic Arts Inc. has a one year low of $159.10 and a one year high of $210.20. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.79.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The game software company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter. Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 13.80%.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In related news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $507,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 73,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,930,490.30. This trade represents a 3.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.00, for a total value of $243,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,360 shares in the company, valued at $5,351,080. This trade represents a 4.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,700 shares of company stock valued at $1,766,950. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Electronic Arts Company Profile

Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: EA) is a global interactive entertainment company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, EA develops, publishes and distributes video games and related content for a variety of platforms, including consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. The company combines in-house development, partnerships and studio acquisitions to create and maintain a portfolio of entertainment properties and live-service experiences for players worldwide.

EA’s product lineup spans several well-known franchises and genres.