The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) Shares Sold by Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,555 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walt Disney in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Walt Disney by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 399 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Walt Disney during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 98.1% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 517 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walt Disney during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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 owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,005,529.10. This represents a 10.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 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 represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DIS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walt Disney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.52.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Shares of DIS stock traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.95. 653,384 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,995,297. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $112.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.33. The company has a market cap of $204.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.82, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. The Walt Disney Company has a 12 month low of $83.91 and a 12 month high of $123.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $22.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 36.90%.

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.