BMO Capital Markets Cuts Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Price Target to $142.00

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) had its price target reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $145.00 to $142.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the game software company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on EA. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $175.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $167.00 to $159.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on Electronic Arts from $158.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BNP Paribas lowered Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.24.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

NASDAQ EA opened at $130.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $145.31 and a 200-day moving average of $147.54. Electronic Arts has a 52-week low of $115.21 and a 52-week high of $168.50. The company has a market capitalization of $34.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.79.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 14.12%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Electronic Arts will post 5.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is 19.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $244,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,814,688. The trade was a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total value of $832,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,615 shares in the company, valued at $8,758,819.05. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,500 shares of company stock worth $3,562,510 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter valued at $4,828,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 5,163 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 812 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Electronic Arts by 5,606.4% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 219,013 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $32,042,000 after purchasing an additional 215,175 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Company Profile

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.