Northwest Financial Advisors Purchases 144 Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Northwest Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,663 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Northwest Financial Advisors’ holdings in Walt Disney were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Walt Disney by 12,574.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 2,765,389 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 114.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $398,508,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walt Disney by 3.8% in the third 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 last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DIS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.52.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In other Walt Disney news, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. The trade was a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.74, for a total transaction of $917,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,054,870.70. This trade represents a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DIS opened at $113.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $204.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

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