If you’re bottom-fishing for a gaming stock with the wind at its back, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) might be a great buying opportunity as the stock skyrocketed by as much as 18% during the previous week. Even though the number of hedge funds that own stakes in this company remained unchanged during the first quarter at 34, the value of the total holdings increased slightly to $664.76 million. The stock has great momentum and could push even higher as Take-Two Interactive Software beat analysts’ expectations on earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter of 2015. Moreover, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO)’s CEO recently claimed that the company is performing quite well since the start of the year, which was mainly assisted by the launch of “Grand Theft Auto 5” for the PC platform. Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management and Richard Mashaal’s RIMA Senvest Management representsome of the hedge funds that increased their positions in Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) during the first quarter.
Another gaming stock that could be of interest to merger-arb investors is Perfect World Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ:PWRD). In spite of the fact that hedge fund positions in this company decreased to 8 from 9, the value of these positions achieved a significant spike of 150%, increasing to $54.81 million. The Beijing-based online gaming company has recently announced plans to go private by way of a buyout by its founder and chairman, Michael Yufeng Chi. The current shareholders will receive $4.04 in cash for each of Perfect World’s ordinary shares, while each ADS, which represents five class B ordinary shares, will be cashed out at $20.20. A number of well-known hedge funds, including Nick Niell’s Arrowgrass Capital Partners and Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital, own sizable stakes in Perfect World Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ:PWRD).
Last on our list of top gaming stocks is Shanda Games Limited (NASDAQ:GAME), another online gaming publisher. There are seven hedge funds that own equity stakes in the company at the end of the first quarter, down from 10 at the end of 2014. Shanda’s stock has lifted by over 19% since the beginning of the current year despite the fact that the company witnessed a negative earnings estimate revision for the current year. As in the case of the previously analyzed stock, Shanda has recently announced its plans to go private, in spite of its previous unwillingness to do so. It is claimed that a group of buyers will pay $3.55 per each ordinary share and as much as $7.20 per each ADS. GLG Partners led by Noam Gottesman is one of the funds that owns a large equity stake in Shanda Games Limited (NASDAQ:GAME).
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