Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. $PLAY Shares Acquired by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY) by 40.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,515,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 434,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment were worth $24,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 0.5% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 121,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,665,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 24,794 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 102,226 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,657,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 616.6% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,942 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,671 shares in the last quarter. 91.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Steve Klohn sold 6,989 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.69, for a total transaction of $102,668.41. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $566,255.43. This represents a 15.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

More Dave & Buster’s Entertainment News

Here are the key news stories impacting Dave & Buster’s Entertainment this week:

• Negative Sentiment: First-quarter earnings came in well below estimates at $0.22 per share versus expectations ranging from $0.37 to $0.60, signaling weaker-than-expected profitability. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue also missed forecasts, coming in at $559.2 million versus the $580.6 million consensus, reinforcing concerns about softer demand. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Comparable store sales fell 5.4%, highlighting continued pressure on traffic and same-store performance. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: The company reported lower first-quarter profit of $5.7 million, down from a much stronger year-ago period, which adds to concerns about margin and earnings momentum. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Dave & Buster’s released its full first-quarter 2026 financial results, but the main market takeaway is the earnings and sales miss rather than any new strategic update. Article title

Analyst Ratings Changes

PLAY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $22.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.83.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Price Performance

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment stock opened at $12.32 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.85. The company has a market capitalization of $428.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.62 and a beta of 1.81. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.61 and a 1 year high of $35.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.61, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $559.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $580.60 million. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment had a negative net margin of 2.32% and a negative return on equity of 7.93%. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. will post -0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Company Profile

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc operates a chain of combined restaurant and entertainment venues designed to appeal to families, young adults and corporate groups. Each location features a full-service restaurant and bar alongside an arcade gaming area with ticket-based redemption, virtual reality experiences and skill-based games. Many venues also include multiple large-screen televisions and a sports bar atmosphere, catering to fans who wish to watch live sporting events in a social setting.

The company was founded in 1982 by David Corriveau and James “Buster” Corley, opening its first location in Dallas, Texas.