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

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $196.6429.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EA. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

EA stock opened at $200.97 on Friday. Electronic Arts has a 52 week low of $141.19 and a 52 week high of $204.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.78%.

Insider Transactions at Electronic Arts

In other news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.19, for a total value of $1,005,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,507,721.53. This trade represents a 10.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.36, for a total transaction of $302,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 25,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,233,547.76. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,906 shares of company stock worth $8,032,336. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,773,086 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $5,879,205,000 after buying an additional 485,030 shares during the period. Pentwater Capital Management LP increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 128.1% in the 4th quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 10,950,000 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $2,237,414,000 after buying an additional 6,150,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,764,572 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $1,382,030,000 after buying an additional 143,195 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,591,869 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $926,194,000 after buying an additional 374,840 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,314,962 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $870,328,000 after buying an additional 202,657 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

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.