Benchmark Reaffirms Buy Rating for Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA)

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Benchmark in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $153.00 target price on the game software company’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.22% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $162.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $146.00 to $143.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

Electronic Arts Trading Up 1.3 %

Electronic Arts stock opened at $127.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $134.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.76. Electronic Arts has a 52-week low of $117.47 and a 52-week high of $144.53.

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

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.43, for a total value of $109,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,683 shares in the company, valued at $3,941,904.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.43, for a total value of $109,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,683 shares in the company, valued at $3,941,904.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jeff Huber sold 11,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.90, for a total transaction of $1,684,636.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 79,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,264,163.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,144 shares of company stock worth $5,143,560. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RBA Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,828 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $3,427,000 after buying an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,430 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the 1st quarter worth about $1,236,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ bought a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 1st quarter worth about $31,017,000. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.