Electronic Arts Inc. $EA Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,748 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 5,883 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $12,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EA. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,420 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 167.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,306 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 12,076 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 150.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,323,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 96.4% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,067 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EA has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Electronic Arts to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Argus lowered Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $196.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.19, for a total value of $1,005,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,507,721.53. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 85,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,337,516.84. The trade was a 5.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,906 shares of company stock valued at $8,032,336. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Electronic Arts Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Electronic Arts stock opened at $203.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.17, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.65. Electronic Arts Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.54 and a fifty-two week high of $204.88. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $202.21 and a 200 day moving average of $202.29.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.78%.

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.