Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Makes New $4.67 Million Investment in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Key Points

• Aware Super bought a new stake in Electronic Arts during the first quarter, purchasing 22,881 shares worth about $4.67 million.
• Institutional ownership in EA remains very high at 90.23%, with other large funds such as Vanguard, Pentwater Capital, and Geode Capital also increasing positions.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: EA’s average rating is Hold with a consensus price target of $196.64, while recent reports included both upgrades and downgrades.

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 22,881 shares of the game software company's stock, valued at approximately $4,665,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Electronic Arts by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,773,086 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $5,879,205,000 after purchasing an additional 485,030 shares during the last quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 128.1% during the 4th quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 10,950,000 shares of the game software company's stock worth $2,237,414,000 after buying an additional 6,150,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,764,572 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $1,382,030,000 after buying an additional 143,195 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,314,962 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $870,328,000 after buying an additional 202,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,217,029 shares of the game software company's stock worth $673,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on EA. Zacks Research cut shares of Electronic Arts from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Argus lowered Electronic Arts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Electronic Arts to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Electronic Arts from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $196.64.

Electronic Arts Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ EA opened at $208.90 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $203.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.64. The company has a market cap of $52.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.97 and a 12-month high of $209.19.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Electronic Arts's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Electronic Arts news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $507,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 73,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,930,490.30. The trade was a 3.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.36, for a total transaction of $302,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 25,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,233,547.76. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,206 shares of company stock worth $6,292,058. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Electronic Arts Profile

Electronic Arts Inc NASDAQ: EA is a global interactive entertainment company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, EA develops, publishes and distributes video games and related content for a variety of platforms, including consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. The company combines in-house development, partnerships and studio acquisitions to create and maintain a portfolio of entertainment properties and live-service experiences for players worldwide.

EA's product lineup spans several well-known franchises and genres.

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