Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 20,565 Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC cut its Electronic Arts stake by 49% in the fourth quarter, selling 20,565 shares and leaving it with 21,382 shares valued at about $4.37 million.
• Electronic Arts insiders also sold stock: CFO Stuart Canfield and CEO Andrew Wilson both completed pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 sales tied to tax withholding on vested equity awards.
• Analysts remain cautious overall, with EA carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $196.64, even as the stock recently traded around $201.72 and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share.

Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 49.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,382 shares of the game software company's stock after selling 20,565 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $4,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Electronic Arts by 1.7% in the 4th 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,764,572 shares of the game software company's stock worth $1,382,030,000 after purchasing an additional 143,195 shares during the period. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the third quarter worth $968,160,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 8.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,591,869 shares of the game software company's stock worth $926,194,000 after purchasing an additional 374,840 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 4.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,314,962 shares of the game software company's stock worth $870,328,000 after purchasing an additional 202,657 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.36, for a total transaction of $302,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 25,991 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,233,547.76. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 5,066 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.66, for a total transaction of $1,021,609.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,337,516.84. This represents a 5.56% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 39,906 shares of company stock worth $8,032,336 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EA shares. Argus lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $196.64.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EA opened at $201.72 on Monday. Electronic Arts Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.19 and a twelve month high of $204.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.26. The company has a market capitalization of $50.58 billion, a PE ratio of 57.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.65. 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 Announces Dividend

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

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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