Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $204.85 and last traded at $204.7850, with a volume of 515550 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $204.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EA shares. Cowen cut Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Baird R W downgraded Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $148.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.21.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $202.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.59. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $51.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.11, for a total value of $244,932.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 33,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,849,931.60. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeff Huber sold 16,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.72, for a total value of $3,369,687.36. Following the sale, the director owned 1,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $397,425.60. The trade was a 89.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 122,469 shares of company stock valued at $24,650,681 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EA. Pentwater Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the 3rd quarter valued at $968,160,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 44.6% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,217,029 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $673,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,336 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 176.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,898 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $297,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189,455 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,072,959 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $2,726,552,000 after purchasing an additional 932,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 165.5% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,279,249 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $204,296,000 after purchasing an additional 797,461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: EA) is a global interactive entertainment company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, EA develops, publishes and distributes video games and related content for a variety of platforms, including consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. The company combines in-house development, partnerships and studio acquisitions to create and maintain a portfolio of entertainment properties and live-service experiences for players worldwide.

EA’s product lineup spans several well-known franchises and genres.