Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stock Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,853,856 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 110,306 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.74% of Electronic Arts worth $378,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 423 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,296 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $719,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,114,000. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,043,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 25,991 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed 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, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,066 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,337,516.84. The trade was a 5.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,906 shares of company stock worth $8,032,336. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of Electronic Arts stock opened at $201.13 on Wednesday. Electronic Arts Inc. has a one year low of $141.19 and a one year high of $204.88. The company has a market cap of $50.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.63, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $202.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.25.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 (DPR) is presently 21.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on 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 upgraded Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.