Hixon Zuercher LLC Buys 513 Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Hixon Zuercher LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,136 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after buying an additional 513 shares during the quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $2,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walt Disney by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,780 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,091,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares during the period. RVW Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Walt Disney by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. RVW Wealth LLC now owns 7,221 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Walt Disney during the fourth quarter valued at $858,000. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in shares of Walt Disney by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 17,051 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,899,000 after buying an additional 2,439 shares during the period. Finally, Busey Bank lifted its position in Walt Disney by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 190,651 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $21,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares during the period. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In related news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.74, for a total value of $917,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,870.70. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,980,695.19. The trade was a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DIS shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.52.

Walt Disney Stock Up 0.1 %

DIS opened at $113.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $204.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $112.43 and its 200 day moving average is $100.44. The Walt Disney Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.91 and a fifty-two week high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.44%. The firm had revenue of $22.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

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

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.