Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Cut to Hold at TD Cowen

TD Cowen lowered shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $185.00 to $210.00 in a report on Thursday. HSBC cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday. Arete raised Electronic Arts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $192.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on Electronic Arts and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.00.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of EA opened at $200.69 on Wednesday. Electronic Arts has a 52-week low of $115.21 and a 52-week high of $203.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.77.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 27th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 27th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In related news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.79, for a total transaction of $504,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 53,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,713,434.68. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.40, for a total value of $1,322,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,045,476. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,247,635. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Electronic Arts

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Electronic Arts by 197.5% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,916,693 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $421,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,313 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the first quarter valued at approximately $225,102,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the first quarter worth approximately $203,537,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 62.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,253,505 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $470,197,000 after buying an additional 1,254,194 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Electronic Arts by 176.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,898 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $297,465,000 after buying an additional 1,189,455 shares during the last quarter. 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.