Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA)

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $165.00 target price on the game software company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on EA. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Electronic Arts from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on Electronic Arts from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Electronic Arts from $146.00 to $143.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Electronic Arts from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $148.53.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $145.68 on Thursday. Electronic Arts has a 1-year low of $117.47 and a 1-year high of $147.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $135.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.04. The company has a market capitalization of $38.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The game software company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.17). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 16.83%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Electronic Arts will post 5.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 29th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.24%.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In other Electronic Arts news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.19, for a total value of $317,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,061.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Electronic Arts news, COO Laura Miele sold 2,000 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.15, for a total value of $256,300.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 32,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,199,731.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.19, for a total value of $317,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 23,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,061.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,039 shares of company stock valued at $3,372,146. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 46,512 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $5,600,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,215,360 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $146,329,000 after acquiring an additional 55,326 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,636,385 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $3,086,621,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600,388 shares during the period. Symmetry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter valued at $279,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 473 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Company Profile

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.