Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 1,515 Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,373 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $12,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DIS. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,037 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 32.8% during the third quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 74,767 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $6,751,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in Walt Disney by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 12,722 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upgraded Walt Disney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $135.00 in a report on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Walt Disney in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.17.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of DIS traded down $10.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $105.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 48,924,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,971,431. The company has a market cap of $194.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.66, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.05. The Walt Disney Company has a 52-week low of $78.73 and a 52-week high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The entertainment giant reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.25. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 3.36%. The firm had revenue of $23.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,400 shares in the company, valued at $536,448. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walt Disney 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.