StockNews.com Upgrades Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) to Strong-Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

EA has been the subject of a number of other reports. DZ Bank upgraded Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $177.00 in a report on Thursday. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective 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. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.39.

Electronic Arts Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of EA opened at $151.26 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $144.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.19. Electronic Arts has a 12-month low of $124.92 and a 12-month high of $153.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.78.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is 19.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $353,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,675,950.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $353,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,675,950.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.83, for a total transaction of $150,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,190 shares in the company, valued at $4,251,897.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,644 shares of company stock worth $3,491,207. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,159,718 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $3,868,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,727,251 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 496.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,511,250 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $333,169,000 after buying an additional 2,090,504 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the first quarter worth about $201,935,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Electronic Arts in the 1st quarter valued at about $189,055,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $188,159,000. 90.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.