Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 227 Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,693 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DIS. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Walt Disney by 12,574.4% in 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 grew its position in Walt Disney by 114.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,307,794 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $414,582,000 after buying an additional 2,298,921 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Walt Disney by 112.0% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DIS shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.52.

Walt Disney Price Performance

DIS opened at $112.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The Walt Disney Company has a 1 year low of $83.91 and a 1 year high of $123.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.11. The firm has a market cap of $203.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 9.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,870.70. The trade was a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.