Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $153.00 price target on the game software company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Electronic Arts from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Electronic Arts from $146.00 to $143.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $151.33.

Electronic Arts Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $146.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.79. Electronic Arts has a 1-year low of $117.47 and a 1-year high of $148.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $136.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.33.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The game software company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 16.83%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Electronic Arts will post 5.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is 16.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In other Electronic Arts news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $435,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,553 shares in the company, valued at $1,095,185. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Electronic Arts news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.19, for a total value of $317,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 23,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,061.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $435,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,095,185. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,039 shares of company stock worth $3,517,006 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its holdings in Electronic Arts by 333.3% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 195 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 102.0% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 200 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.