City Holding Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

City Holding Co. reduced its position in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 37.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,370 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 20,250 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $3,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DIS. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Walt Disney during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Walt Disney during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walt Disney in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Birch Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Walt Disney in the 4th quarter worth $56,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Walt Disney by 98.1% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 517 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on DIS. Seaport Res Ptn raised Walt Disney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walt Disney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.54.

Walt Disney Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Walt Disney stock opened at $107.07 on Monday. The Walt Disney Company has a 1 year low of $83.91 and a 1 year high of $123.74. 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 stock has a market cap of $193.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.51, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $112.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.69.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.57 billion during 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 business earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.74, for a total transaction of $917,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,870.70. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.