Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Given “Outperform” Rating at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer restated their outperform rating on shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $150.00 price objective on the game software company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on EA. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Electronic Arts in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an outperform rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Electronic Arts from $146.00 to $143.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Electronic Arts from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $162.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $153.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $147.00.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EA opened at $127.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.57. The company has a market cap of $33.99 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.76. Electronic Arts has a 12-month low of $117.47 and a 12-month high of $144.53.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The game software company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.38). The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 14.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Electronic Arts will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total value of $128,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,426 shares in the company, valued at $2,362,397.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total value of $128,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,362,397.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.88, for a total value of $347,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 30,930 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,558.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,144 shares of company stock worth $5,143,560 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 16.3% in the third 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 last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,067,765 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $693,318,000 after acquiring an additional 386,630 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,156,556 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $500,449,000 after acquiring an additional 301,194 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,428,193 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $469,011,000 after acquiring an additional 145,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,389,395 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $408,084,000 after acquiring an additional 389,063 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.