Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $803,000 in Electronic Arts Inc. $EA

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,916 shares of the game software company’s stock, valued at approximately $803,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EA. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,125,838,000. Public Investment Fund purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,086,618,377. Pentwater Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,762,914,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter worth approximately $643,674,000. Finally, HBK Investments L P purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $390,267,000. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $507,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 73,513 shares in the company, valued at $14,930,490.30. This represents a 3.29% 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 stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.12, for a total transaction of $1,015,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,447,438.88. The trade was a 5.82% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 8,700 shares of company stock valued at $1,766,950 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Argus lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup increased their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Electronic Arts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $206.50.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

EA opened at $209.70 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Electronic Arts Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.10 and a 1 year high of $210.20. The firm has a market cap of $52.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.23 and a beta of 0.64.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The game software company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter. Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 13.80%.

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.