Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. Takes Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,354 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DIS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walt Disney by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,443,502 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $13,673,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,748 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Walt Disney by 0.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,318,444 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,592,010,000 after acquiring an additional 195,512 shares during the period. Trian Fund Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $2,014,861,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walt Disney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,938,647,000. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $104.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.29.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In other Walt Disney news, Director James P. Gorman bought 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $106.03 per share, for a total transaction of $2,120,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,170,116.01. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director James P. Gorman acquired 20,000 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $106.03 per share, for a total transaction of $2,120,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,170,116.01. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.00, for a total value of $466,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walt Disney Stock Up 1.6 %

DIS stock opened at $101.55 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The Walt Disney Company has a 1-year low of $78.73 and a 1-year high of $123.74. The stock has a market cap of $185.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.40.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The entertainment giant reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 1.90%. The company had revenue of $22.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

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.