Short Interest in Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) Increases By 16.2%

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 29th, 2023

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,310,000 shares, an increase of 16.2% from the July 31st total of 9,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,800,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Activision Blizzard

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATVI. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Activision Blizzard in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Activision Blizzard by 3.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Activision Blizzard by 8.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 61,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,877,000 after purchasing an additional 5,014 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Activision Blizzard by 62.7% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Activision Blizzard by 58.9% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 122,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,797,000 after purchasing an additional 45,326 shares during the last quarter. 81.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ATVI. Roth Capital cut shares of Activision Blizzard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Edward Jones cut shares of Activision Blizzard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Barclays cut shares of Activision Blizzard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. UBS Group cut shares of Activision Blizzard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Activision Blizzard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Activision Blizzard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.37.

Read Our Latest Analysis on ATVI

Activision Blizzard Stock Up 0.1 %

ATVI stock opened at $91.77 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $88.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 4.66 and a current ratio of 4.66. Activision Blizzard has a fifty-two week low of $70.94 and a fifty-two week high of $93.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.44.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.17. Activision Blizzard had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Activision Blizzard will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Activision Blizzard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 2nd were paid a $0.99 dividend. This is a positive change from Activision Blizzard’s previous annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 1st. Activision Blizzard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.26%.

Activision Blizzard Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Activision Blizzard, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and publishes interactive entertainment content and services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through three segments: Activision, Blizzard, and King. It develops and distributes content and services on video game consoles, personal computers, and mobile devices, including subscription, full-game, and in-game sales, as well as by licensing software to third-party or related-party companies that distribute Activision and Blizzard products.