Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $120.00 price objective on the entertainment giant’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on DIS. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $91.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Walt Disney from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Walt Disney from $130.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Walt Disney Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DIS opened at $116.73 on Wednesday. Walt Disney has a 12-month low of $83.91 and a 12-month high of $123.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $102.29 and a 200-day moving average of $97.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $211.39 billion, a PE ratio of 43.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.42.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walt Disney will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. This represents a yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. This represents a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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 directly 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. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walt Disney during the 2nd quarter valued at about $355,673,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $329,585,000 after buying an additional 3,399,359 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $414,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,298,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake 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. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

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.