Asio Capital LLC Trims Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Asio Capital LLC lowered its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 30.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,704 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 9,088 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $2,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 77,596,191 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $7,463,978,000 after buying an additional 490,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 3.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,672,320 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,609,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,082 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Walt Disney by 8.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,310,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765,389 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Walt Disney by 3.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,850,678 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,332,297,000 after purchasing an additional 454,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 1.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 114,701 shares during the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walt Disney

In related news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,870.70. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Price Performance

DIS opened at $112.25 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $112.46 and a 200-day moving average of $100.07. The company has a market capitalization of $203.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 1.95 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 expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is currently 36.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Walt Disney from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walt Disney has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.52.

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.