Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Activision Blizzard Call Options (ATVI)

Activision Blizzard, Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 16,616 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 241% compared to the typical volume of 4,866 call options.

In other Activision Blizzard news, CEO Riccardo Zacconi sold 19,761 shares of Activision Blizzard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.45, for a total transaction of $1,095,747.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,509 shares in the company, valued at $3,077,974.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATVI. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Activision Blizzard by 122.6% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America increased its position in shares of Activision Blizzard by 1.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America now owns 2,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Activision Blizzard by 504.6% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 2,523 shares during the period. Family Legacy Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Activision Blizzard during the second quarter worth about $232,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Activision Blizzard during the first quarter worth about $202,000. 87.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Several research firms have commented on ATVI. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Activision Blizzard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Vetr downgraded shares of Activision Blizzard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.48 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Piper Jaffray Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (up from $60.00) on shares of Activision Blizzard in a research note on Wednesday. MKM Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $63.00 price target (up from $60.00) on shares of Activision Blizzard in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Activision Blizzard in a research note on Saturday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Activision Blizzard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $61.14.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) opened at 61.45 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.54 and a 200-day moving average of $51.48. The company has a market cap of $46.31 billion, a PE ratio of 45.08 and a beta of 1.07. Activision Blizzard has a 52 week low of $35.12 and a 52 week high of $63.19.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.11. Activision Blizzard had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 14.63%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Activision Blizzard will post $2.01 EPS for the current year.

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Activision Blizzard Company Profile

Activision Blizzard, Inc is a developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content and services. The Company develops and distributes content and services across various gaming platforms, including video game consoles, personal computers (PC) and mobile devices. Its segments include Activision Publishing, Inc (Activision), Blizzard Entertainment, Inc (Blizzard), King Digital Entertainment (King) and Other.