Ascendiant Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Stock

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) had its price target upped by analysts at Ascendiant Capital Markets from $157.00 to $160.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the game software company’s stock. Ascendiant Capital Markets’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 23.92% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on EA. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Electronic Arts from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $167.00 to $159.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 27th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.78.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

NASDAQ EA opened at $129.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $33.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.85, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Electronic Arts has a twelve month low of $115.21 and a twelve month high of $168.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.72.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a net margin of 14.28% and a return on equity of 17.80%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Electronic Arts will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Electronic Arts

In related news, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $234,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,886 shares in the company, valued at $3,888,935.22. This represents a 5.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $740,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,615 shares in the company, valued at $7,047,020. The trade was a 9.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,428,645. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter valued at $71,872,000. Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at about $236,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Electronic Arts during the fourth quarter worth about $636,000. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Electronic Arts by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 18,228 shares of the game software company’s stock worth $2,667,000 after buying an additional 2,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Electronic Arts in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 90.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.