Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen Is Selling These 5 Stocks

3. Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 80

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) is a California-based video game company that is set to be acquired by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a $69 billion deal. Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) declared a $0.47 per share annual dividend on February 3, payable on May 6. 

Publishing its Q4 results on February 3, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) posted earnings per share of $1.25, missing estimates by $0.07. The $2.49 billion revenue it pulled in represented an 18.49% year-over-year decline, missing estimates by roughly $342 million. 

On February 4, Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey raised his price target on Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) to $100 from $95 and kept a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. According to the analyst, investors will either be awarded with an approximate 20% upside to Microsoft’s $95 bid or 27% upside to Benchmark’s fiscal 2023 valuation target if the deal is blocked.

A total of 80 hedge funds held long positions in Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) in the third quarter of 2021, up from 78 funds in the preceding quarter. D E Shaw owned the leading stake in Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), with 9.8 million shares worth $765.25 million. 

Here is what Cooper Investors had to say about Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“In our previous letter we discussed the Responsible Investing aspects around the workplace issues disclosed earlier in the year at Activision Blizzard. Subsequently, further information emerged including allegations and anecdotes of historic awareness and inaction to the issues within the ranks of executive management. So too the latest earnings announcement saw the Blizzard studio push out several game launches, a very real consequence of workplace issues in a human capital-based business. The remedial efforts required are greater than we originally thought and the position was sold in what has been a disappointing experience.”