Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on EA. Bank of America upped their price target on Electronic Arts from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upped their price target on Electronic Arts from $161.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $173.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.24.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of Electronic Arts stock opened at $128.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $33.73 billion, a PE ratio of 33.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $143.99 and a 200 day moving average of $147.33. Electronic Arts has a 52 week low of $115.21 and a 52 week high of $168.50.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 18.56%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Electronic Arts will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is currently 19.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Electronic Arts news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $244,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,814,688. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.45, for a total value of $164,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,969,021.20. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,889,585 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EA. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 353.4% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,269,258 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $185,692,000 after buying an additional 989,319 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,099,746 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $160,893,000 after buying an additional 373,730 shares during the period. abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 59.2% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 858,840 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $123,484,000 after buying an additional 319,335 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 8,503.9% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 318,085 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $45,626,000 after purchasing an additional 314,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth about $34,334,000. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

About Electronic Arts

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.