Ledyard National Bank Trims Holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Ledyard National Bank reduced its holdings in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,617 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 696 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DIS. Evolution Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Walt Disney by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. now owns 380 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walt Disney by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,975 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.7% during the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 16,514 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Kelman Lazarov Inc. raised its position in shares of Walt Disney by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Kelman Lazarov Inc. now owns 3,583 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 24,096 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walt Disney

In other news, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.92, for a total value of $226,405.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $536,448. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

NYSE:DIS traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $111.46. 2,685,772 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,618,502. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. The Walt Disney Company has a fifty-two week low of $78.73 and a fifty-two week high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The entertainment giant reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $23.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.71 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 3.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a yield of 0.5%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on Walt Disney from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walt Disney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.08.

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.