Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirty-one research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $181.2083.

Several brokerages have weighed in on EA. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Electronic Arts from $206.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. DZ Bank downgraded Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. TD Cowen cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Monday, September 29th.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $204.10 on Monday. Electronic Arts has a 52 week low of $115.21 and a 52 week high of $204.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.68, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its earnings results 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). Electronic Arts had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Electronic Arts will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

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 that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.06, for a total transaction of $502,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 55,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,188,586.88. This trade represents a 4.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeff Huber sold 79,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.17, for a total value of $15,969,075.77. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 122,469 shares of company stock valued at $24,650,681. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 3rd quarter valued at about $968,160,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,591,869 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $926,194,000 after acquiring an additional 374,840 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,355,950 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $695,645,000 after acquiring an additional 193,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 4.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,314,962 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $870,328,000 after acquiring an additional 202,657 shares during the period. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Electronic Arts Company Profile

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.