Westpac Banking Corp Purchases 6,879 Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,095 shares of the game software company’s stock after buying an additional 6,879 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $3,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter valued at $214,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 40,483 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $6,467,000 after acquiring an additional 10,453 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the 1st quarter worth about $319,000. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 278,069 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $44,408,000 after acquiring an additional 15,032 shares during the period. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd bought a new stake in Electronic Arts during the second quarter worth about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EA shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $148.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Roth Capital downgraded Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $168.00 price objective on Electronic Arts and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, DZ Bank cut Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.64.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

EA stock opened at $201.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.21 and a 12-month high of $203.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.15 billion, a PE ratio of 58.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.74.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The game software company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.07). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 12.14%.The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.79, for a total value of $504,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 53,092 shares in the company, valued at $10,713,434.68. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.40, for a total transaction of $1,322,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,045,476. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,200 shares of company stock worth $7,149,882. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Electronic Arts 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.