Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Trims Position in Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,474 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,598 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Activision Blizzard were worth $5,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ATVI. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Activision Blizzard by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 28,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Activision Blizzard by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Activision Blizzard by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,013,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Activision Blizzard by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Activision Blizzard by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 4,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ATVI. Truist Financial lowered Activision Blizzard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $84.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Activision Blizzard from $95.00 to $95.99 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Activision Blizzard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Roth Mkm lowered shares of Activision Blizzard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Activision Blizzard in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Activision Blizzard has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.37.

Activision Blizzard Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of ATVI stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $92.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,782,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,476,841. Activision Blizzard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.94 and a 52-week high of $93.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 4.66 and a current ratio of 4.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $89.57 and its 200-day moving average is $83.43.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Activision Blizzard, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Activision Blizzard Increases Dividend

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

Activision Blizzard Company Profile

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.