Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 8.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 704,400 shares of the game software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $143,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kera Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 8.1% in the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,279 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 26.7% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 242 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the first quarter worth about $217,000. Gallacher Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the first quarter worth about $655,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 19.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,233 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $1,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EA opened at $208.90 on Monday. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.97 and a 1 year high of $209.19. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $203.38 and its 200 day moving average is $202.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.64.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given 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 was Wednesday, May 27th. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is presently 21.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Argus lowered Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Electronic Arts to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In other news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.12, for a total value of $1,015,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 80,974 shares in the company, valued at $16,447,438.88. This trade represents a 5.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total value of $507,750.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 73,513 shares in the company, valued at $14,930,490.30. This represents a 3.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,206 shares of company stock worth $6,292,058. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.