Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 13,456,257 shares, an increase of 41.9% from the January 29th total of 9,480,042 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,336,181 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,336,181 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of EA stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $201.22. The company had a trading volume of 640,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,599,109. The stock has a market cap of $50.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.59, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Electronic Arts has a 52-week low of $128.87 and a 52-week high of $204.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.33.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Electronic Arts news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $299,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,178,810.30. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.63, for a total transaction of $240,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,251,630.80. This represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 27,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,589,823 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Electronic Arts

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,773,086 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $5,879,205,000 after buying an additional 485,030 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 5.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,072,959 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $2,726,552,000 after buying an additional 932,024 shares during the period. Pentwater Capital Management LP lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 128.1% during 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 buying an additional 6,150,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,764,572 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $1,382,030,000 after buying an additional 143,195 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 8.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,591,869 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $926,194,000 after acquiring an additional 374,840 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $207.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Electronic Arts has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.95.

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.