Apexium Financial LP Grows Stock Holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Apexium Financial LP increased its stake in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 1,472.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,908 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after buying an additional 116,026 shares during the period. Walt Disney accounts for about 0.8% of Apexium Financial LP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Apexium Financial LP’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $13,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Walt Disney by 12,574.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,426,393 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $329,585,000 after purchasing an additional 3,399,359 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 8.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $3,310,539,000 after buying an additional 2,765,389 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Walt Disney by 114.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,307,794 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $414,582,000 after buying an additional 2,298,921 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Walt Disney by 112.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,142,991 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $398,508,000 after buying an additional 2,188,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $3,609,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,082 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Walt Disney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walt Disney

In other news, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total value of $568,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,005,529.10. This represents a 10.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE DIS opened at $112.25 on Monday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.08. The Walt Disney Company has a one year low of $83.91 and a one year high of $123.74. The company has a market capitalization of $203.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $22.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.90%.

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.