The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) Stake Increased by Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC grew its stake in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,777 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $1,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,399,359 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Walt Disney by 8.7% during the third 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 boosted its holdings 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 worth $414,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,921 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased 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 valued at $398,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 3.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,672,320 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,609,833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,082 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.74, for a total transaction of $917,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,870.70. This trade represents a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $42,667,242.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DIS. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Walt Disney in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. 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 note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.52.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DIS opened at $112.25 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.07. 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 Walt Disney Company has a 1 year low of $83.91 and a 1 year high of $123.74. The firm has a market cap of $203.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.44%. The business had revenue of $22.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

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

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.