D.B. Root & Company LLC Takes Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

D.B. Root & Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,170 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DIS. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walt Disney by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 85,197 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $9,070,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC grew its position in Walt Disney by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 3,303 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walt Disney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 657 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,221 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Stock Up 0.1 %

DIS stock opened at $108.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43. 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 simple moving average is $112.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.90.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $22.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. This represents a yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DIS. Loop Capital raised their target price on Walt Disney from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Redburn Atlantic raised Walt Disney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $100.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walt Disney

In related news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was 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 owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,054,870.70. This trade represents a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at $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 a total of 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.