New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Lowers Stock Position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board reduced its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,463 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $1,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 141.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 200 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 290 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 1,458.3% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 374 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on EA. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DZ Bank raised Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Moffett Nathanson raised Electronic Arts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In other news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total value of $832,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,758,819.05. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.45, for a total value of $164,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,216 shares in the company, valued at $4,969,021.20. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,500 shares of company stock worth $3,644,635. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of EA stock opened at $129.40 on Monday. Electronic Arts Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.21 and a twelve month high of $168.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 14.28%. On average, analysts predict that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.34%.

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.