Piper Sandler Initiates Coverage on Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)

Equities researchers at Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) in a report issued on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the entertainment giant’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 0.77% from the company’s previous close.

DIS has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on Walt Disney from $130.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Walt Disney from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $136.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson dropped their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walt Disney presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.05.

Walt Disney Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DIS opened at $94.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $91.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.26. Walt Disney has a 52-week low of $79.23 and a 52-week high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The entertainment giant reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $23.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.08 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 8.64% and a net margin of 5.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walt Disney will post 4.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Calvin Mcdonald acquired 11,756 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.06 per share, for a total transaction of $999,965.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,943.78. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walt Disney by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 46,404 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $4,293,000 after acquiring an additional 7,963 shares during the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 25,165 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 22.9% in the third quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,463 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. increased its position in Walt Disney by 0.3% in the third quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 110,570 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $10,636,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospect Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Walt Disney by 12.2% during the third quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 6,928 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Company 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.