Greenleaf Trust Raises Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,382 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $4,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 399 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Walt Disney during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in Walt Disney by 98.1% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 517 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walt Disney during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walt Disney during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $568,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on DIS. Redburn Atlantic raised Walt Disney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Walt Disney from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walt Disney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.52.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of Walt Disney stock opened at $113.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The Walt Disney Company has a 1 year low of $83.91 and a 1 year high of $123.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.64. The firm has a market cap of $204.43 billion, a PE ratio of 41.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.43.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $22.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders 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 was Monday, December 16th. This represents a yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is presently 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.