Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Price Target Raised to $150.00 at Morgan Stanley

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the game software company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the company from $148.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Electronic Arts from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Benchmark reissued a buy rating and issued a $153.00 target price on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $152.56.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

EA opened at $145.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.59. Electronic Arts has a 52-week low of $117.47 and a 52-week high of $148.22.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Electronic Arts had a net margin of 16.83% and a return on equity of 18.81%. As a group, analysts predict that Electronic Arts will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is 16.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Electronic Arts news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.86, for a total value of $144,860.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,317 shares in the company, valued at $4,246,860.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $101,312.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,283 shares in the company, valued at $3,328,479.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.86, for a total value of $144,860.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,246,860.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,539 shares of company stock worth $3,199,031 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Electronic Arts by 14.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,159,718 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $3,868,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,727,251 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 496.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,511,250 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $333,169,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090,504 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter valued at about $281,054,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the first quarter valued at about $201,935,000. Finally, Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the first quarter valued at about $189,055,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

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.