Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $165.00 price target on the game software company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.51% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Electronic Arts from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $153.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $162.00 price target on shares of Electronic Arts in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.53.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

Shares of EA opened at $144.09 on Thursday. Electronic Arts has a 12-month low of $117.47 and a 12-month high of $144.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $38.29 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $134.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.94.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The game software company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.17). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 16.83%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Electronic Arts will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In related news, CAO Eric Charles Kelly sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total value of $401,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,507.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Electronic Arts news, CAO Eric Charles Kelly sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total value of $401,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,507.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 800 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $101,312.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,328,479.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,039 shares of company stock worth $3,065,356. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EA. FORA Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 209.7% in the 1st quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 45,985 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $6,101,000 after buying an additional 31,136 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC purchased a new position in Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter worth about $1,259,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Electronic Arts by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 429,536 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $53,761,000 after purchasing an additional 107,709 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 181,757 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $24,866,000 after acquiring an additional 10,405 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Electronic Arts by 99.4% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 17,338 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 8,644 shares during the last quarter. 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.