Spire Wealth Management Boosts Holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,569 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $3,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 3,399,359 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Walt Disney by 8.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $3,310,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765,389 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 114.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,307,794 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $414,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,921 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Walt Disney by 112.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Walt Disney by 3.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,672,320 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,609,833,000 after buying an additional 1,393,082 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Walt Disney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.52.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,005,529.10. This represents a 10.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 $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 sold 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walt Disney Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE DIS opened at $113.04 on Monday. The Walt Disney Company has a 52 week low of $83.91 and a 52 week high of $123.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.43 billion, a PE ratio of 41.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.43. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.49 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.44%. Walt Disney’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid 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 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.