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

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,010,000 shares, a decline of 9.5% from the September 15th total of 6,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush lifted their price target on Electronic Arts from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $154.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Electronic Arts currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 7,384 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.91, for a total transaction of $1,106,935.44. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,675,692.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.42, for a total value of $356,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,437,957.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 7,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.91, for a total transaction of $1,106,935.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,675,692.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,643,785 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 333.3% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 195 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Electronic Arts during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EA traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $144.20. 1,095,789 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,064,459. The firm has a market cap of $38.32 billion, a PE ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45. Electronic Arts has a fifty-two week low of $119.92 and a fifty-two week high of $153.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.94.

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

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is 16.24%.

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.