Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 5,732,768 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 64% from the previous session’s volume of 3,503,818 shares.The stock last traded at $115.91 and had previously closed at $118.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Thursday. Argus boosted their target price on Electronic Arts from $161.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James lowered shares of Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Electronic Arts to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.79.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $30.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $153.33 and a 200 day moving average of $148.99.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.45, for a total transaction of $215,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,354,721.70. This trade represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,758,819.05. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,000 shares of company stock worth $3,986,385 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,671,657 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $954,358,000 after acquiring an additional 26,505 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,639,691 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $367,789,000 after purchasing an additional 53,800 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,607,817 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $235,224,000 after purchasing an additional 95,190 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,390,418 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $193,727,000 after purchasing an additional 420,382 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,099,746 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $160,893,000 after buying an additional 373,730 shares during the last quarter. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.