Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,881 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 1,062 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $4,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DIS. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Walt Disney during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Walt Disney in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Walt Disney by 98.1% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 517 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walt Disney during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Birch Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walt Disney in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DIS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.54.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DIS traded down $0.57 during trading on Monday, hitting $108.08. The company had a trading volume of 6,459,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,902,465. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.43. 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 12 month low of $83.91 and a 12 month high of $123.74.

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

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 value of $568,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,005,529.10. This represents a 10.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. The trade was a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.