Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Benchmark Co. in a research note issued on Sunday, July 30th. They presently have a $136.00 price target on the game software company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $131.00. Benchmark Co.’s price target suggests a potential upside of 19.31% from the stock’s current price.
EA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Jaffray Companies reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Vetr upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.20 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Jefferies Group LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Monday, April 10th. MKM Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.19.
Shares of Electronic Arts (EA) traded down 1.83% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $113.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,950,220 shares. Electronic Arts has a one year low of $73.74 and a one year high of $120.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.04 and a 200-day moving average of $99.10. The company has a market cap of $35.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52 and a beta of 0.72.
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The game software company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.22. Electronic Arts had a net margin of 23.31% and a return on equity of 29.77%. The company had revenue of $775 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $768.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. Electronic Arts’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Electronic Arts will post $4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Electronic Arts announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the game software company to buy up to 45% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
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In other news, EVP Joel Linzner sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.96, for a total transaction of $467,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,115,689.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth A. Moss sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.72, for a total transaction of $583,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,607,687.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 336,915 shares of company stock valued at $37,032,377. Insiders own 2.55% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 25.1% in the first quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 32,884 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after buying an additional 6,600 shares during the period. Cim LLC increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 4.2% in the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 5,108 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 178.8% in the first quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 9,200 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 21.6% in the first quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 37,834 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $3,386,000 after buying an additional 6,727 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 3.8% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 373,561 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $33,441,000 after buying an additional 13,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.02% of the company’s stock.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc develops, markets, publishes and distributes games, content and services that can be played by consumers on a range of platforms, which include consoles, personal computers (PCs), mobile phones and tablets. The Company’s games and services are based on a portfolio of intellectual property that includes established brands, such as FIFA, Madden NFL, Star Wars, Battlefield, the Sims and Need for Speed.
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