Rockingstone Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Rockingstone Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,500 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DIS. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 77,596,191 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $7,463,978,000 after buying an additional 490,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walt Disney by 3.8% in 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 period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 8.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,310,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,765,389 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Walt Disney by 3.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,281,047 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,417,958,000 after purchasing an additional 425,438 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,850,678 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,332,297,000 after purchasing an additional 454,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on DIS shares. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Walt Disney in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Walt Disney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Walt Disney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.54.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of DIS stock opened at $108.12 on Thursday. The Walt Disney Company has a 52 week low of $83.91 and a 52 week high of $123.74. The company has a market capitalization of $195.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $22.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.49 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is presently 36.90%.

Walt Disney 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.