The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) Position Trimmed by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 89,733 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 3,562 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $8,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trian Fund Management L.P. boosted its position in Walt Disney by 411.6% during the third quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. now owns 32,868,307 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $2,663,976,000 after purchasing an additional 26,443,257 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walt Disney during the 3rd quarter valued at about $326,171,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Walt Disney by 8,681.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,349,709 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $302,445,000 after buying an additional 3,311,563 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in Walt Disney by 21.0% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 14,416,343 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,168,444,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Walt Disney by 10.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 24,859,476 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,014,861,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384,407 shares in the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DIS shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating and set a $133.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Monday, April 1st. Macquarie raised their price objective on Walt Disney from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays raised Walt Disney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $128.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.08.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Shares of Walt Disney stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $112.73. 6,292,905 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,784,900. The company has a market cap of $206.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.42. The Walt Disney Company has a fifty-two week low of $78.73 and a fifty-two week high of $123.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.66.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The entertainment giant reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $23.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.71 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 3.36%. Walt Disney’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.92, for a total value of $226,405.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $536,448. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.