Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $150.11.

Several analysts have weighed in on EA shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $153.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $435,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,095,185. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.19, for a total transaction of $317,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,980,061.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $435,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,095,185. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,039 shares of company stock worth $3,372,146. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Electronic Arts

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,159,718 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $3,868,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,727,251 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,901,257 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $782,920,000 after acquiring an additional 833,492 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,428,193 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $469,011,000 after acquiring an additional 145,466 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 496.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,511,250 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $333,169,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 82.3% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 2,357,238 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $322,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,022 shares during the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Electronic Arts stock opened at $145.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $38.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.10. Electronic Arts has a twelve month low of $117.47 and a twelve month high of $147.41.

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

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

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

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.