Donoghue Forlines LLC Purchases New Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,641 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,000. Walt Disney comprises approximately 0.7% of Donoghue Forlines LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farmers Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 8,483 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 3,412 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co increased its position in Walt Disney by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 18,869 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC raised its stake in Walt Disney by 0.9% during the third quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 11,657 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connable Office Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 0.3% in the third quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 35,048 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,371,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walt Disney

In related news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,870.70. This trade represents a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.57, for a total transaction of $42,667,242.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. This represents a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Price Performance

NYSE:DIS opened at $108.74 on Thursday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.90. The firm has a market cap of $196.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 9.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. This represents a yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DIS. Rosenblatt Securities upped 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. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Walt Disney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Monday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.52.

About Walt Disney

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.