Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Short Interest Update

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) saw a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,160,000 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the October 31st total of 6,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

NASDAQ:EA opened at $167.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $152.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.80. Electronic Arts has a 1-year low of $124.92 and a 1-year high of $168.50. The firm has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.79.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid 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 yield of 0.45%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.54%.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In related news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.24, for a total transaction of $143,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,181,175.60. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total value of $832,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,758,819.05. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,086,270 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EA. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 592.1% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 263 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on EA. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. DZ Bank raised Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.37.

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.