Electronic Arts’ (EA) Buy Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $153.00 price target on the game software company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on EA. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Electronic Arts from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Electronic Arts in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an outperform rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Electronic Arts from $146.00 to $143.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $147.00.

Electronic Arts Stock Up 1.3 %

Electronic Arts stock opened at $127.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.76. Electronic Arts has a fifty-two week low of $117.47 and a fifty-two week high of $144.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $134.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.40.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The game software company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.38). The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. Electronic Arts had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. Analysts predict that Electronic Arts will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.14%.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.43, for a total value of $109,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,941,904.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.43, for a total transaction of $109,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,941,904.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total value of $128,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,426 shares in the company, valued at $2,362,397.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,144 shares of company stock worth $5,143,560 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EA. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Electronic Arts by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,339 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in Electronic Arts by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 34,102 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $4,106,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 27,085 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $3,261,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 3,264 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Electronic Arts Company Profile

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.