Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Price Target to $159.00

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) had its target price lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $167.00 to $159.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the game software company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on EA. DZ Bank raised Electronic Arts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $177.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Electronic Arts to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $163.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eleven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Electronic Arts presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.79.

Electronic Arts Stock Down 16.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EA opened at $118.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $153.33 and a 200 day moving average of $148.99. Electronic Arts has a 52-week low of $115.45 and a 52-week high of $168.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80.

Electronic Arts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Electronic Arts news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.68, for a total transaction of $713,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 42,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,080,308.20. This trade represents a 10.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.45, for a total value of $215,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,354,721.70. The trade was a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,986,385. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.