Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. Grows Stake in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,613 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DIS. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 19,197,463 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,137,637,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636,742 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Walt Disney by 12,574.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,426,393 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $329,585,000 after purchasing an additional 3,399,359 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Walt Disney by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,310,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765,389 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Walt Disney by 114.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,307,794 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $414,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised 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 worth $398,508,000 after buying an additional 2,188,610 shares during the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In other Walt Disney news, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at $25,980,695.19. This represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $917,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,870.70. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DIS shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Walt Disney in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walt Disney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.52.

Walt Disney Stock Up 0.9 %

Walt Disney stock opened at $114.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $206.35 billion, a PE ratio of 42.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.42. 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 fifty-two week low of $83.91 and a fifty-two week high of $123.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $112.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.66.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $22.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.49 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.44%. Walt Disney’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is 36.90%.

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.