Parthenon LLC Lowers Stake in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Parthenon LLC cut its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 73,677 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 880 shares during the quarter. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $6,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DIS. Evolution Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. now owns 380 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walt Disney by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,975 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 16,514 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Kelman Lazarov Inc. increased its position in shares of Walt Disney by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Kelman Lazarov Inc. now owns 3,583 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 24,096 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DIS has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $136.00 target price on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Macquarie boosted their target price on Walt Disney from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of the company’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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DIS traded down $0.97 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $111.11. The company had a trading volume of 8,146,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,685,459. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $114.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.25. The Walt Disney Company has a fifty-two week low of $78.73 and a fifty-two week high of $123.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The entertainment giant reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.25. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 3.36%. The firm had revenue of $23.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Walt Disney’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Walt Disney Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a yield of 0.5%. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is 18.52%.

Walt Disney Profile

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.