Short Interest in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Rises By 36.3%
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,870,000 shares, a growth of 36.3% from the October 31st total of 2,840,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EA shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $132.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.75.
View Our Latest Stock Report on EA
Insider Activity at Electronic Arts
In other Electronic Arts news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 3,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.88, for a total value of $446,091.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,362.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Electronic Arts news, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 3,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.88, for a total value of $446,091.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,362.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,203 shares in the company, valued at $4,104,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,859 shares of company stock valued at $4,058,801. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EA. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 100,845.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 349,922,048 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $45,384,890,000 after purchasing an additional 349,575,404 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 25,779,074 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $3,343,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690,474 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,802,596 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $2,758,246,000 after purchasing an additional 149,746 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,638,706 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $1,768,940,000 after purchasing an additional 726,005 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Electronic Arts by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,936,503 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $768,078,000 after purchasing an additional 127,547 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.42% of the company’s stock.
Electronic Arts Trading Down 0.2 %
Shares of NASDAQ:EA traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $137.76. 1,931,726 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,732,054. Electronic Arts has a 1-year low of $108.53 and a 1-year high of $140.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $37.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.82.
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The game software company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. Electronic Arts had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 20.02%. Equities analysts predict that Electronic Arts will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.
Electronic Arts Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 28th. Electronic Arts’s payout ratio is presently 20.94%.
Electronic Arts Company Profile (Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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Original: MarketBeat News Feed: Short Interest in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Rises By 36.3%