Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Invests $370,000 in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. bought a new position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,326 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 77,596,191 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $7,463,978,000 after acquiring an additional 490,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 3.8% during the 3rd 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 period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,310,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,765,389 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,281,047 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,417,958,000 after acquiring an additional 425,438 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 3.4% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 454,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DIS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Walt Disney from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Walt Disney in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walt Disney

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $568,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,005,529.10. The trade was a 10.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, 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 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Trading Up 0.6 %

DIS opened at $107.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $193.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 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 current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $112.08 and a 200 day moving average of $99.67.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.49 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is 36.90%.

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.