The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and twenty-two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $126.29.

Several brokerages have recently commented on DIS. Guggenheim raised their target price on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walt Disney from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 21st.

Walt Disney Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of DIS stock opened at $101.50 on Wednesday. Walt Disney has a fifty-two week low of $78.73 and a fifty-two week high of $123.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.20. The company has a market cap of $185.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.33, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.40.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The entertainment giant reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $22.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.12 billion. Walt Disney had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 8.37%. Walt Disney’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Walt Disney will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.92, for a total value of $226,405.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,400 shares in the company, valued at $536,448. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Walt Disney news, Director James P. Gorman purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $106.03 per share, for a total transaction of $2,120,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,170,116.01. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.92, for a total transaction of $226,405.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $536,448. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walt Disney

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DIS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Walt Disney by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 153,769,084 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $18,815,185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,582 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,318,444 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,592,010,000 after buying an additional 195,512 shares in the last quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. boosted its stake in Walt Disney by 411.6% during the third quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. now owns 32,868,307 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $2,663,976,000 after buying an additional 26,443,257 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Walt Disney by 10.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 24,859,476 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $2,014,861,000 after buying an additional 2,384,407 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walt Disney during the fourth quarter worth about $1,938,647,000. 65.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.