Swiss National Bank Acquires 51,900 Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 8.0% in the first quarter, buying 51,900 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 704,400 shares valued at about $143.6 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 90.23% of EA’s stock held by institutional investors, while several other firms also recently opened new positions in the company.
• EA’s stock is trading near its 52-week high at $208.90, and the company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, equal to an annual yield of about 0.4%.

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 704,400 shares of the game software company's stock after buying an additional 51,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Electronic Arts worth $143,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the first quarter worth about $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of EA opened at $208.90 on Monday. Electronic Arts Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.97 and a fifty-two week high of $209.19. The firm has a market cap of $52.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.86, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $203.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.63. 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 was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Electronic Arts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.36, for a total transaction of $302,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,991 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through 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, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.19, for a total value of $1,005,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,287 shares in the company, valued at $8,507,721.53. This trade represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 31,206 shares of company stock valued at $6,292,058 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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