Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA)

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 7,942 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 32% compared to the average daily volume of 6,011 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EA shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $143.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Electronic Arts from $153.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.70, for a total value of $151,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,579,823. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.32, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,160,055.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.70, for a total value of $151,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,190 shares in the company, valued at $4,579,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,070 shares of company stock worth $3,963,638 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,159,718 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $3,868,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,727,251 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Electronic Arts by 16.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,901,257 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $782,920,000 after acquiring an additional 833,492 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in Electronic Arts by 1.3% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,283,539 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $596,825,000 after buying an additional 53,237 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,185,476 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $583,162,000 after acquiring an additional 18,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in Electronic Arts by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,428,193 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $469,011,000 after purchasing an additional 145,466 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Electronic Arts Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ EA traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $145.46. 887,347 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,084,683. Electronic Arts has a twelve month low of $117.47 and a twelve month high of $153.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.60.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The game software company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.06. Electronic Arts had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Electronic Arts will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 28th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.