Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 45,537 Shares of Playtika Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:PLTK)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Playtika Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:PLTK) by 302.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,587 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,537 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Playtika were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PLTK. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Playtika by 19.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Playtika by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,694 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Playtika by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 99,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Playtika by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 37,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 5,352 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Playtika by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 162,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after buying an additional 5,453 shares during the last quarter. 11.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PLTK. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of Playtika in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Playtika from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Playtika in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Insider Activity

In other Playtika news, major shareholder Holding Uk Ltd Playtika II sold 75,923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.54, for a total transaction of $572,459.42. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 200,554,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,512,182,136.40. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 753,894 shares of company stock worth $6,239,985 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Playtika Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of PLTK stock opened at $6.94 on Wednesday. Playtika Holding Corp. has a 12-month low of $6.25 and a 12-month high of $9.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.72. The company has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.88.

Playtika (NASDAQ:PLTK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.07). Playtika had a net margin of 8.52% and a negative return on equity of 144.73%. The company had revenue of $620.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $622.46 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. Playtika’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Playtika Holding Corp. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Playtika Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. Playtika’s payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

Playtika Profile

Playtika Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops mobile games in the United States, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia pacific, and internationally. The company owns a portfolio of casual and social casino-themed games. It distributes its games to the end customer through various web and mobile platforms and direct-to-consumer platforms.