The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) Position Cut by Advisory Alpha LLC

Advisory Alpha LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,710 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 477 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 16,550.0% during the fourth quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 666 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 100,666 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $10,890,000 after buying an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 14,539 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 10,772 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walt Disney by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 8,374 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walt Disney

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.74, for a total transaction of $917,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,870.70. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.57, for a total transaction of $42,667,242.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. The trade was a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

DIS stock opened at $108.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $197.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.43. 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 simple moving average of $112.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.83. The Walt Disney Company has a 52 week low of $83.91 and a 52 week high of $123.74.

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

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. This represents a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DIS. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walt Disney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.52.

About Walt Disney

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.