Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Acquires 212 Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 158,427 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after buying an additional 212 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $17,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.6% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,672,320 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,609,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,082 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Walt Disney by 8.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $3,310,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,765,389 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Walt Disney by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 19,197,463 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $2,137,637,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 3.4% in the third 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 worth $1,332,297,000 after purchasing an additional 454,678 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DIS opened at $110.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The Walt Disney Company has a 12-month low of $83.91 and a 12-month high of $123.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $111.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.14. The company has a market capitalization of $200.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.90, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.42.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The entertainment giant reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Walt Disney had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 9.21%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 EPS 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 paid 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 was Monday, December 16th. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on DIS. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Walt Disney from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.57, for a total transaction of $42,667,242.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,980,695.19. This represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of Walt Disney 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,870.70. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.