ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) by 38.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 435,764 shares of the game software company’s stock after buying an additional 121,241 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Electronic Arts were worth $89,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EA. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 12,076 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 150.8% in 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 position in Electronic Arts in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,323,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 96.4% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.81, for a total transaction of $240,972.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,560 shares in the company, valued at $5,534,323.60. This represents a 4.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.54, for a total transaction of $1,002,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 18,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,781,783.32. This represents a 20.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,100 shares of company stock valued at $5,252,250. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of Electronic Arts stock opened at $201.70 on Wednesday. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.19 and a 52-week high of $204.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $201.84 and a 200-day moving average of $202.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on EA. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.64.

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.