Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $206.63 and last traded at $206.5420, with a volume of 1228540 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $206.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Electronic Arts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Argus lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 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, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.64.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $51.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.64. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $202.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.56.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is 21.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,447,438.88. The trade was a 5.82% 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. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.36, for a total transaction of $302,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,233,547.76. This trade represents a 5.46% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 31,206 shares of company stock valued at $6,292,058 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EA. Pentwater Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Electronic Arts by 128.1% in the 4th quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 10,950,000 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $2,237,414,000 after acquiring an additional 6,150,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter worth $643,674,000. HBK Investments L P bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter valued at about $390,267,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 44.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,217,029 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $673,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter valued at about $165,153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% 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.