Short Interest in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Decreases By 34.2%

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,250,000 shares, a decrease of 34.2% from the March 15th total of 11,020,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.68, for a total transaction of $713,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 42,615 shares in the company, valued at $6,080,308.20. This represents a 10.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stuart Canfield sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.11, for a total value of $130,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,238,126.76. This trade represents a 9.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,290 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Electronic Arts

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Electronic Arts in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Electronic Arts in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in Electronic Arts by 141.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 200 shares of the game software company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Electronic Arts during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 90.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on EA shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Electronic Arts from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $167.00 to $159.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Electronic Arts from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.65.

Electronic Arts Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:EA traded up $2.70 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $145.67. The company had a trading volume of 968,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,615,994. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.34. Electronic Arts has a twelve month low of $115.21 and a twelve month high of $168.50. The firm has a market cap of $37.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G 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 (NASDAQ:EA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a net margin of 14.28% and a return on equity of 17.80%. On average, equities analysts expect that Electronic Arts will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Electronic Arts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Electronic Arts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.34%.

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.