J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 92.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,201 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 38,715 shares during the quarter. J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DIS. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walt Disney during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Walt Disney during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walt Disney by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 399 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Walt Disney during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Walt Disney during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walt Disney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Walt Disney in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six equities research 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Shares of DIS stock opened at $110.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $199.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.78. The Walt Disney Company has a one year low of $83.91 and a one year high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The entertainment giant reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Walt Disney had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 9.95%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is currently 32.57%.

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.