Walt Disney Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:DIS)

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 156,224 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 51% compared to the typical daily volume of 103,437 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.92, for a total value of $226,405.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $536,448. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director James P. Gorman acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $106.03 per share, with a total value of $2,120,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 20,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,170,116.01. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.92, for a total value of $226,405.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $536,448. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walt Disney

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DIS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 153,769,084 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $18,815,185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,582 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Walt Disney by 0.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,318,444 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,592,010,000 after purchasing an additional 195,512 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walt Disney in the fourth quarter valued at $1,938,647,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Walt Disney in the first quarter valued at about $1,490,492,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 2.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,040,297 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,473,252,000 after buying an additional 293,482 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Price Performance

NYSE DIS traded down $2.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $99.19. 21,427,892 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,476,657. Walt Disney has a 1-year low of $78.73 and a 1-year high of $123.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $105.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.53. The company has a market cap of $180.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.40.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The entertainment giant reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 1.90%. The business had revenue of $22.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Walt Disney’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walt Disney will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on DIS. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $133.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Macquarie increased their target price on Walt Disney from $104.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Walt Disney from $128.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.50.

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.