Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Given New $160.00 Price Target at Benchmark

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) had its price target upped by Benchmark from $140.00 to $160.00 in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the game software company’s stock.

EA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $173.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Electronic Arts from $175.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $167.00 to $159.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.65.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of EA stock opened at $145.19 on Monday. Electronic Arts has a fifty-two week low of $115.21 and a fifty-two week high of $168.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.62.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 14.28%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Electronic Arts will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is 19.34%.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In other Electronic Arts news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,000 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.11, for a total transaction of $130,110.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,238,126.76. The trade was a 9.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.50, for a total transaction of $712,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,647,637.50. The trade was a 13.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,018,560 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EA. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 141.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 200 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other 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.