Lido Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Key Points

• Lido Advisors LLC cut its Electronic Arts stake by 31.9% in the first quarter, selling 9,410 shares and leaving it with 20,131 shares worth about $4.1 million.
• Electronic Arts reported mixed investor sentiment overall, with hedge funds still owning 90.23% of the company while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold with a consensus target price of $196.64.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share and saw insider selling from both EVP Jacob J. Schatz and CEO Andrew Wilson in May.

Lido Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 31.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,131 shares of the game software company's stock after selling 9,410 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC's holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $4,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,773,086 shares of the game software company's stock worth $5,879,205,000 after acquiring an additional 485,030 shares in the last quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,237,414,000 after acquiring an additional 6,150,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $1,382,030,000 after purchasing an additional 143,195 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 4.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,300,336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company's stock.

Electronic Arts Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of EA stock opened at $209.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick 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 $209.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.64. The firm's 50 day moving average is $204.25 and its 200 day moving average is $202.80.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In related news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.19, for a total transaction of $1,005,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,507,721.53. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.66, for a total value of $1,021,609.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,206 shares of company stock worth $6,292,058. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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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