Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Key Points

• Norges Bank initiated a large new stake in Electronic Arts, buying 3,150,170 shares valued at about $643.7 million and ending the quarter with roughly 1.26% ownership of the company.
• Several other institutional investors also increased or opened positions, and hedge funds and institutions now own 90.23% of Electronic Arts shares, showing strong institutional interest.
• Insiders have recently sold stock, including CEO Andrew Wilson and EVP Jacob J. Schatz, while analysts remain cautious overall with a “Hold” consensus and an average price target of $196.64.

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,150,170 shares of the game software company's stock, valued at approximately $643,674,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.26% of Electronic Arts at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,420 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 167.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,306 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 12,076 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 150.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,323,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 96.4% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,067 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In other Electronic Arts news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 5,000 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.19, for a total transaction of $1,005,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,507,721.53. The trade was a 10.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,337,516.84. This trade represents a 5.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 have sold a total of 39,906 shares of company stock worth $8,032,336 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Electronic Arts stock opened at $201.72 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $202.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.26. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.19 and a 1 year high of $204.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Argus cut shares of Electronic Arts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Electronic Arts from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $196.64.

Electronic Arts Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.