Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Raises Holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,691 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $9,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 77,596,191 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $7,463,978,000 after purchasing an additional 490,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Walt Disney by 3.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,672,320 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,609,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,082 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,310,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765,389 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,850,678 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,332,297,000 after purchasing an additional 454,678 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Walt Disney by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,411,205 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,001,454,000 after buying an additional 114,701 shares during the period. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DIS. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Walt Disney in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.52.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of DIS stock opened at $113.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.89 billion, a PE ratio of 41.81, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.44. The Walt Disney Company has a one year low of $83.91 and a one year high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Walt Disney had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 9.21%. The company 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 firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is 36.90%.

Insider Activity

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $568,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,005,529.10. This trade represents a 10.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% 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.