Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Grows Stock Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 10.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,331 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walt Disney during the second quarter valued at about $355,673,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 12,574.4% during 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 during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Walt Disney by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $3,310,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765,389 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,298,921 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Walt Disney by 112.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,142,991 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $398,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188,610 shares in the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total value of $568,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,005,529.10. This represents a 10.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.57, for a total value of $42,667,242.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. This represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walt Disney Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DIS opened at $116.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.69. The Walt Disney Company has a twelve month low of $83.91 and a twelve month high of $123.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $211.39 billion, a PE ratio of 43.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.42.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio is 33.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

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.