BMO Capital Markets Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA)

BMO Capital Markets reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $154.00 target price on the game software company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded Electronic Arts to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Electronic Arts from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.94.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EA opened at $144.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Electronic Arts has a 1-year low of $119.92 and a 1-year high of $153.51.

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

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given 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 is currently 16.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was 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 owns 59,247 shares in the company, valued at $8,437,957.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Electronic Arts news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 29,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,181,175.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.42, for a total value of $356,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,437,957.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,770 shares of company stock worth $3,643,785. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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