Electronic Arts Inc. $EA Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,853,856 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 110,306 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $378,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 35.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 390,971 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $78,859,000 after purchasing an additional 102,248 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the third quarter valued at $1,025,000. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the third quarter valued at $1,815,000. Greenland Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the third quarter valued at $5,569,000. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 75.8% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 85,245 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $17,194,000 after purchasing an additional 36,769 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $196.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.66, for a total value of $1,021,609.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,337,516.84. The trade was a 5.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,507,721.53. The trade was a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,906 shares of company stock worth $8,032,336. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ EA opened at $201.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $202.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $202.25. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.19 and a 1 year high of $204.88.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

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

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.