Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Raised to Strong-Buy at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on EA. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $143.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird restated an outperform rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Benchmark restated a buy rating and issued a $163.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $161.94.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $143.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Electronic Arts has a fifty-two week low of $119.92 and a fifty-two week high of $153.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.64. The company has a market cap of $38.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.79.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The game software company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Electronic Arts had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 16.34%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Electronic Arts will post 5.93 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.42, for a total transaction of $356,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,437,957.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.42, for a total value of $356,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,437,957.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.24, for a total transaction of $143,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,181,175.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,270 shares of company stock valued at $3,571,565 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Electronic Arts by 333.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Electronic Arts in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Electronic Arts in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Electronic Arts in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Electronic Arts in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.