Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Electronic Arts shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $209.27 on Monday and last changing hands near $209.04.
• Despite the stock’s strength, analyst sentiment remains cautious: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $196.64, and several firms recently downgraded the stock.
• The company also recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, while institutional investors continue to hold the vast majority of EA’s stock.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $209.27 and last traded at $209.04, with a volume of 112446 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $208.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Electronic Arts from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Electronic Arts from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Electronic Arts to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Argus downgraded Electronic Arts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Electronic Arts from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $196.64.

Electronic Arts Price Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $203.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.63. The firm has a market cap of $52.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Electronic Arts's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Electronic Arts news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 5,000 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.19, for a total transaction of $1,005,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,507,721.53. The trade was a 10.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.36, for a total value of $302,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 25,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,233,547.76. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 31,206 shares of company stock worth $6,292,058 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pentwater Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 128.1% in the fourth quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 10,950,000 shares of the game software company's stock worth $2,237,414,000 after buying an additional 6,150,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter valued at $643,674,000. HBK Investments L P purchased a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth about $390,267,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,217,029 shares of the game software company's stock worth $673,393,000 after buying an additional 1,300,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $165,153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company's stock.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc NASDAQ: EA is a global interactive entertainment company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, EA develops, publishes and distributes video games and related content for a variety of platforms, including consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. The company combines in-house development, partnerships and studio acquisitions to create and maintain a portfolio of entertainment properties and live-service experiences for players worldwide.

EA's product lineup spans several well-known franchises and genres.

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