SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Stock Position in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC cut its Electronic Arts stake by 15.4% in the first quarter, selling 96,591 shares and ending with 530,121 shares valued at about $108.1 million.
• Insider selling continued, with EA executive Laura Miele and CFO Stuart Canfield both selling shares under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans; insiders have sold 39,906 shares over the last 90 days.
• EA’s stock and valuation remain near highs, with shares opening at $202.15, a 12-month range of $146.97 to $204.88, and analysts maintaining an overall Hold consensus with a $196.64 price target.

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 530,121 shares of the game software company's stock after selling 96,591 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.21% of Electronic Arts worth $108,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 1.7% during 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 buying an additional 485,030 shares in the last quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 128.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $1,382,030,000 after acquiring an additional 143,195 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $926,194,000 after acquiring an additional 374,840 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 4.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,314,962 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $870,328,000 after acquiring an additional 202,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In other news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.21, for a total transaction of $508,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 43,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,807,731.03. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 25,991 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,233,547.76. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,906 shares of company stock worth $8,060,033. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of Electronic Arts stock opened at $202.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $50.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.92, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $202.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.39. 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 twelve month low of $146.97 and a twelve month high of $204.88.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 21.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Electronic Arts to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Argus downgraded Electronic Arts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Electronic Arts from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $196.64.

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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