Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirty-two ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty-six have issued a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $181.64.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Capital downgraded Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $210.00 in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Argus set a $210.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. DZ Bank cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Arete upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $192.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $148.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.79, for a total transaction of $863,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,189,036.47. The trade was a 9.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.79, for a total transaction of $504,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 53,092 shares in the company, valued at $10,713,434.68. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,400 shares of company stock worth $8,175,651. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 3rd quarter worth $24,890,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 4.4% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,769 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 333.3% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 260 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 7.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,824 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $3,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Electronic Arts by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,474 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:EA opened at $200.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $50.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.68, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $195.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.69. Electronic Arts has a 52 week low of $115.21 and a 52 week high of $203.75.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The game software company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Electronic Arts had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The business’s revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Electronic Arts will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.