Electronic Arts Inc. $EA Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 569,675 shares of the game software company’s stock after selling 94,001 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.23% of Electronic Arts worth $116,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EA. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 12.5% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 108,908 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $22,185,000 after acquiring an additional 12,095 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 110,851 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $22,650,000 after purchasing an additional 9,297 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 227,893 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $46,554,000 after purchasing an additional 57,268 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter worth $8,745,000. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 500.3% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 47,805 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $9,768,000 after purchasing an additional 39,841 shares in the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Argus cut Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Electronic Arts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In other news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.36, for a total transaction of $302,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 25,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,233,547.76. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total value of $507,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 73,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,930,490.30. The trade was a 3.29% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,206 shares of company stock valued at $6,292,058. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $208.90 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $203.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.64. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.97 and a 12 month 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 firm 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.