Sovran Advisors LLC Takes $743,000 Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,872 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock, valued at approximately $743,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walt Disney in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Walt Disney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 399 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Walt Disney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Walt Disney in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walt Disney

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walt Disney Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:DIS opened at $109.01 on Wednesday. The Walt Disney Company has a one year low of $83.91 and a one year high of $123.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $111.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The entertainment giant reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 6.07%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.43 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DIS shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Walt Disney in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.85.

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.