Rafferty Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,677 shares of the game software company’s stock after buying an additional 5,017 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $15,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EA. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,464 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,205 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,837 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 156,907 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $22,955,000 after purchasing an additional 70,539 shares during the period. Finally, Burney Co. boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 21,572 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 2,198 shares during the period. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Electronic Arts Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $149.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.74. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.21 and a 1-year high of $168.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $144.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Electronic Arts news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.57, for a total transaction of $388,925.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,252,202.73. This represents a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.14, for a total transaction of $650,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,895,216.10. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,342,580. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EA has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $161.83.

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.