Mariner LLC Increases Stock Position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,854 shares of the game software company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,938 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC's holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $5,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EA. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,702,586 shares of the game software company's stock worth $978,650,000 after buying an additional 30,929 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,430,409 shares of the game software company's stock worth $648,169,000 after purchasing an additional 270,991 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,228,721 shares of the game software company's stock worth $472,362,000 after purchasing an additional 120,632 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Electronic Arts by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,990,729 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $431,315,000 after buying an additional 122,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,789,283 shares of the game software company's stock worth $261,772,000 after acquiring an additional 23,289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on EA shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Electronic Arts from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Electronic Arts from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $173.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $167.00 to $159.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $145.00 to $142.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.00.

Electronic Arts Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of EA stock traded up $2.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $146.18. 1,705,965 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,637,669. The stock has a market cap of $38.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Electronic Arts Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.21 and a fifty-two week high of $168.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.41.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts expect that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Electronic Arts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,895,216.10. This represents a 11.73 % decrease in their position. 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.03, for a total value of $122,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,443,198.48. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,032,740 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

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.