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

Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nineteen have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $186.9524.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Electronic Arts from $207.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Electronic Arts from $148.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Argus set a $210.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Thursday, October 30th.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of EA stock opened at $200.46 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.96. The company has a market capitalization of $50.17 billion, a PE ratio of 75.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.74. Electronic Arts has a twelve month low of $128.02 and a twelve month high of $204.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura Miele sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.27, for a total value of $510,675.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 50,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,345,866.96. This represents a 4.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeff Huber sold 16,788 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $397,425.60. This trade represents a 89.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 123,769 shares of company stock worth $24,943,734. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Electronic Arts in the third quarter worth $968,160,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth $643,674,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,217,029 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $673,393,000 after buying an additional 1,300,336 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 176.6% in 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 period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,072,959 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $2,726,552,000 after buying an additional 932,024 shares during the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.