Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $154.78.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $145.00 to $142.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Electronic Arts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Electronic Arts from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Benchmark decreased their price target on Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Electronic Arts stock opened at $144.30 on Tuesday. Electronic Arts has a fifty-two week low of $115.21 and a fifty-two week high of $168.50. The company has a market capitalization of $37.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $132.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a net margin of 14.28% and a return on equity of 17.80%. On average, analysts anticipate that Electronic Arts will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.57, for a total transaction of $147,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,216 shares in the company, valued at $4,311,405.12. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.45, for a total value of $215,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,354,721.70. This trade represents a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,166,740 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EA. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter valued at $677,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 434,672 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $63,593,000 after purchasing an additional 11,949 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth about $624,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 33,521 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $4,904,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new stake in Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,463,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

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.