Stuart Canfield Sells 1,500 Shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Stock

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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.

Electronic Arts Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of EA stock traded down $0.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $200.97. 2,333,913 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,255,380. 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 has a market capitalization of $50.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.24. Electronic Arts Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.19 and a twelve month high of $204.88.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.64.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EA. Pentwater Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Electronic Arts by 128.1% in the fourth 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 acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $643,674,000. HBK Investments L P acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $390,267,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Electronic Arts by 44.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,300,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $165,153,000. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Electronic Arts Company 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.