Short Interest in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) Declines By 6.2%

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,550,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the December 15th total of 20,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DIS. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Walt Disney from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $5,005,529.10. This trade represents a 10.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DIS. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walt Disney by 8.4% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 66,744 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $6,420,000 after purchasing an additional 5,184 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,411,205 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,001,454,000 after buying an additional 114,701 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Walt Disney by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 140,883 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $15,687,000 after buying an additional 13,339 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Walt Disney by 476.0% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 12,379 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,191,000 after buying an additional 10,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Walt Disney during the fourth quarter valued at about $15,125,000. 65.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DIS traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $107.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,103,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,534,095. The company has a 50-day moving average of $112.08 and a 200-day moving average of $99.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $193.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43. Walt Disney has a 12 month low of $83.91 and a 12 month high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.49 billion. Walt Disney had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 9.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walt Disney will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.