Investors Buy High Volume of Electronic Arts Call Options (NASDAQ:EA)

Key Points

• Investors showed significant interest in Electronic Arts with a purchase of 27,638 call options, reflecting a 493% increase compared to the average daily volume.
• Insider trading activity included sales by executives, with Jacob J. Schatz selling shares worth $222,480, reducing his ownership by 5.01%.
• Electronic Arts' stock experienced a rise of 4.8%, closing at $202.72 amidst high trading volume of nearly 12 million shares.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 27,638 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 493% compared to the average daily volume of 4,658 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.32, for a total value of $222,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,219,407.36. This trade represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,200 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.52, for a total value of $205,824.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 34,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,957,061.12. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,800 shares of company stock valued at $5,077,960. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,052,085 shares of the game software company's stock worth $4,198,607,000 after purchasing an additional 150,438 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,072,959 shares of the game software company's stock worth $2,726,552,000 after purchasing an additional 932,024 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 4.6% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,355,950 shares of the game software company's stock worth $695,645,000 after purchasing an additional 193,442 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 44.6% during the second 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Electronic Arts by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,112,305 shares of the game software company's stock valued at $656,735,000 after acquiring an additional 378,824 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EA. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut Electronic Arts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $168.00 price target on Electronic Arts and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Electronic Arts from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $175.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Electronic Arts presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Electronic Arts Stock Up 4.8%

Electronic Arts stock traded up $9.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $202.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,961,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,488,578. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Electronic Arts has a fifty-two week low of $115.21 and a fifty-two week high of $203.75. The company has a market cap of $50.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.75.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Electronic Arts's payout ratio is 19.05%.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc develops, markets, publishes, and distributes games, content, and services for game consoles, PCs, mobile phones, and tablets worldwide. It develops and publishes games and services across various genres, such as sports, racing, first-person shooter, action, role-playing, and simulation primarily under the Battlefield, The Sims, Apex Legends, Need for Speed, and license games from others, including FIFA, Madden NFL, UFC, and Star Wars brands.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.