The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) Shares Sold by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

FourThought Financial Partners LLC decreased its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 35.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,338 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 2,401 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trian Fund Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 411.6% in the third quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. now owns 32,868,307 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,663,976,000 after acquiring an additional 26,443,257 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walt Disney in the third quarter worth $326,171,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walt Disney by 8,681.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,349,709 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $302,445,000 after acquiring an additional 3,311,563 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Walt Disney by 21.0% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 14,416,343 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,168,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 24,859,476 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,014,861,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384,407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DIS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $129.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.08.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In related news, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.92, for a total transaction of $226,405.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $536,448. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walt Disney Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE DIS traded up $1.70 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $115.36. The company had a trading volume of 6,015,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,448,994. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $114.50 and a 200 day moving average of $100.81. The Walt Disney Company has a 1-year low of $78.73 and a 1-year high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The entertainment giant reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $23.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.71 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 3.36%. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. This represents a yield of 0.5%. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is 18.52%.

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.