Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Upgraded at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Walt Disney from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walt Disney from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Five investment 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 MarketBeat, Walt Disney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.52.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DIS opened at $111.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $201.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.90. Walt Disney has a fifty-two week low of $83.91 and a fifty-two week high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.44%. Walt Disney’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walt Disney 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a 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%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,005,529.10. This represents a 10.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.57, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walt Disney

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Walt Disney during the 2nd quarter worth about $378,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Walt Disney by 160.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 829,220 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $82,333,000 after acquiring an additional 510,844 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in Walt Disney by 65.6% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 582,325 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $53,948,000 after acquiring an additional 230,594 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in Walt Disney during the 2nd quarter worth about $336,000. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its stake in Walt Disney by 185.1% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 240,581 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $23,887,000 after acquiring an additional 156,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.