Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 709,000 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 40,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $103,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EA. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Electronic Arts during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in Electronic Arts by 141.0% during the fourth 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. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Electronic Arts by 31.8% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EA shares. Ascendiant Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $173.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.78.

Electronic Arts Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of EA stock opened at $138.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.78. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $132.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.91.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 14.28% and a return on equity of 17.80%. On average, analysts anticipate that Electronic Arts Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is currently 19.34%.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In other news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.11, for a total transaction of $130,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,238,126.76. The trade was a 9.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $234,405.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,888,935.22. The trade was a 5.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,428,645. Corporate 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.