White Pine Investment CO Cuts Stake in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

White Pine Investment CO lessened its stake in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,495 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 1,462 shares during the period. White Pine Investment CO’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $2,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walt Disney during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $355,673,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 8.7% during 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 during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in 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 worth $414,582,000 after buying an additional 2,298,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 112.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,142,991 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $398,508,000 after buying an additional 2,188,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,054,870.70. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DIS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Walt Disney in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price 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 issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walt Disney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.54.

Walt Disney Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of DIS opened at $108.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $196.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.43. The Walt Disney Company has a 1 year low of $83.91 and a 1 year high of $123.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.49 billion. Walt Disney had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 9.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

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