Hedges Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Hedges Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,250 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $1,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 12,574.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,426,393 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $329,585,000 after purchasing an additional 3,399,359 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Walt Disney by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,310,539,000 after buying an additional 2,765,389 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Walt Disney by 114.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,307,794 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $414,582,000 after buying an additional 2,298,921 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Walt Disney by 112.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,142,991 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $398,508,000 after buying an additional 2,188,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 3.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,672,320 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $3,609,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,082 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total value of $568,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,005,529.10. The trade was a 10.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.57, for a total value of $42,667,242.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. The trade was a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Stock Up 2.0 %

Walt Disney stock opened at $111.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $112.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.90. The Walt Disney Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.91 and a fifty-two week high of $123.74. The company has a market capitalization of $201.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.44%. The firm had revenue of $22.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is 36.90%.

Walt Disney Company Profile

The Walt Disney Company operates as an entertainment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Entertainment, Sports, and Experiences. The company produces and distributes film and television video streaming content under the ABC Television Network, Disney, Freeform, FX, Fox, National Geographic, and Star brand television channels, as well as ABC television stations and A+E television networks; and produces original content under the ABC Signature, Disney Branded Television, FX Productions, Lucasfilm, Marvel, National Geographic Studios, Pixar, Searchlight Pictures, Twentieth Century Studios, 20th Television, and Walt Disney Pictures banners.