Independent Franchise Partners LLP Has $545.40 Million Stock Position in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Independent Franchise Partners LLP lowered its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 13.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,415,129 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 530,573 shares during the quarter. Electronic Arts accounts for approximately 3.6% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $545,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Electronic Arts during the second quarter worth $214,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 34.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 40,483 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $6,467,000 after buying an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Electronic Arts during the first quarter worth $319,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 5.7% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 278,069 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $44,408,000 after purchasing an additional 15,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the second quarter valued at approximately $205,000. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on EA shares. 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 research report on Monday, September 29th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Monday, September 29th. Cowen downgraded Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. DZ Bank cut Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.42, for a total transaction of $241,704.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 34,760 shares in the company, valued at $7,001,359.20. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total value of $302,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,128,231.75. The trade was a 21.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 134,869 shares of company stock worth $26,878,477 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

EA opened at $203.24 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $199.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.32. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.21 and a 52-week high of $203.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.83 billion, a PE ratio of 59.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

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

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

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

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.