Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI – Get Rating) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ATVI. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Activision Blizzard from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Activision Blizzard from $95.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, November 28th. Edward Jones upgraded Activision Blizzard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Activision Blizzard in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Activision Blizzard from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Activision Blizzard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.36.

Activision Blizzard Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ATVI opened at $78.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $61.95 billion, a PE ratio of 41.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.42. Activision Blizzard has a fifty-two week low of $70.94 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 4.07 and a current ratio of 4.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.72 and a 200-day moving average of $75.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Activision Blizzard news, COO Daniel Alegre sold 8,847 shares of Activision Blizzard stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.50, for a total transaction of $694,489.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 156,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,259,345. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Activision Blizzard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Activision Blizzard by 39.8% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,689,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,532,987,000 after acquiring an additional 5,605,802 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in Activision Blizzard by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 11,427,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $874,792,000 after purchasing an additional 5,270,426 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Activision Blizzard during the 4th quarter valued at about $742,922,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Activision Blizzard by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,002,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,921,000 after purchasing an additional 892,599 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Activision Blizzard by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,165,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,555,000 after purchasing an additional 408,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.34% of the company’s stock.

About Activision Blizzard

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Activision Blizzard, Inc engages in the development and publication of entertainment content and services. It operates through the following segments: Activision Publishing Inc, Blizzard Entertainment Inc, and King Digital Entertainment. The Activision Publishing Inc segment delivers content through both premium and free-to-play offerings, as well as by licensing software to third-party or related-party companies that distribute Activision products.