Investors Purchase Large Volume of Walt Disney Call Options (NYSE:DIS)

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 187,122 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 100% compared to the typical daily volume of 93,440 call options.

Insider Transactions at Walt Disney

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,005,529.10. This represents a 10.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walt Disney

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 66,744 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $6,420,000 after buying an additional 5,184 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,411,205 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,001,454,000 after acquiring an additional 114,701 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 476.0% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 12,379 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 10,230 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Walt Disney during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $14,079,000. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC increased its position in Walt Disney by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 147,353 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $14,174,000 after purchasing an additional 23,116 shares in the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DIS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walt Disney from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walt Disney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

NYSE:DIS traded down $1.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $113.43. 4,414,254 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,804,203. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.42. Walt Disney has a fifty-two week low of $83.91 and a fifty-two week high of $123.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.44%. The company had revenue of $22.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walt Disney will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.90%.

About Walt Disney

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.