Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA)

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 30,481 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 775% compared to the typical volume of 3,482 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Electronic Arts news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.68, for a total value of $713,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 42,615 shares in the company, valued at $6,080,308.20. This trade represents a 10.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.45, for a total transaction of $215,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,386 shares in the company, valued at $3,354,721.70. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,000 shares of company stock worth $3,986,385 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 8,641.4% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,506 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 28.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 97.6% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 7,969 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Electronic Arts by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 116,458 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $16,226,000 after acquiring an additional 66,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBW Capital LLC grew its position in Electronic Arts by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 35,617 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $4,963,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

NASDAQ EA opened at $118.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $153.33 and a 200 day moving average of $148.99. The company has a market capitalization of $31.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80. Electronic Arts has a one year low of $115.45 and a one year high of $168.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is currently 19.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on EA shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $167.00 to $159.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $158.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $173.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Thursday. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Electronic Arts presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.79.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc develops, markets, publishes, and distributes games, content, and services for game consoles, PCs, mobile phones, and tablets worldwide. It develops and publishes games and services across various genres, such as sports, racing, first-person shooter, action, role-playing, and simulation primarily under the Battlefield, The Sims, Apex Legends, Need for Speed, and license games from others, including FIFA, Madden NFL, UFC, and Star Wars brands.