Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA Lowers Holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA decreased its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,509 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 4,861 shares during the period. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $1,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 6.3% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 369,397 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $35,532,000 after purchasing an additional 21,998 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 14.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,675 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,893,000 after buying an additional 2,443 shares in the last quarter. Herbst Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.6% in the third quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 23,048 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,217,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its position in Walt Disney by 1.6% during the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 65,087 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $6,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in Walt Disney by 10.5% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 37,963 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $3,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. This represents a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $568,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,005,529.10. The trade was a 10.19 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walt Disney Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE DIS opened at $114.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.42. The Walt Disney Company has a 52-week low of $83.91 and a 52-week high of $123.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $112.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $22.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given 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 yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DIS. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Walt Disney from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Walt Disney from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Monday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walt Disney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.52.

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.