Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC reduced its position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,141 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $1,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walt Disney during the second quarter worth about $355,673,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $329,585,000 after acquiring an additional 3,399,359 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 8.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 114.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,298,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 112.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,142,991 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $398,508,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188,610 shares in the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walt Disney

In related news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,870.70. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DIS opened at $108.12 on Thursday. 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 Walt Disney Company has a 52-week low of $83.91 and a 52-week high of $123.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $111.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.51. The company has a market capitalization of $195.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is 36.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on DIS. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. 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 report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.54.

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.