Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Stock Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden increased its Electronic Arts stake by 50.1% in the first quarter, buying 56,750 additional shares and bringing its total to 169,989 shares worth about $34.7 million.
• Institutional ownership in EA remains very high at 90.23%, and several other large investors also expanded positions in the stock during recent quarters.
• Insiders have been selling shares: CFO Stuart Canfield and CEO Andrew Wilson both executed pre-arranged sales, and analysts currently rate EA mostly Hold with an average price target of $196.64.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 50.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 169,989 shares of the game software company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,750 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned 0.07% of Electronic Arts worth $34,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pentwater Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 128.1% during the fourth 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. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter worth about $643,674,000. HBK Investments L P bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter worth about $390,267,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,217,029 shares of the game software company's stock worth $673,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,336 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter worth about $165,153,000. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Electronic Arts news, 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 value of $302,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,991 shares in the company, valued at $5,233,547.76. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.12, for a total transaction of $1,015,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 80,974 shares in the company, valued at $16,447,438.88. This represents a 5.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 39,906 shares of company stock worth $8,060,033 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on EA shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Electronic Arts to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Argus cut Electronic Arts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $196.64.

Electronic Arts Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of EA opened at $205.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.64. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.97 and a 12-month high of $206.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $202.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.46.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Electronic Arts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.78%.

About Electronic Arts

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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