Ascent Group LLC Purchases 4,176 Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 16.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,848 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,176 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $2,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DIS. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in Walt Disney during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,490,492,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 3,332.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,267,593 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $766,903,000 after purchasing an additional 6,084,993 shares during the last quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Walt Disney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $459,245,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Walt Disney in the 1st quarter worth approximately $493,715,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walt Disney in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $355,673,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on DIS shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Walt Disney from $128.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $130.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $139.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.43.

Walt Disney Stock Up 0.9 %

DIS opened at $96.01 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.30. The company has a market capitalization of $175.03 billion, a PE ratio of 104.36, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.40. The Walt Disney Company has a 1-year low of $78.73 and a 1-year high of $123.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The entertainment giant reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.19. The company 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%. Walt Disney’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In other news, Director Calvin Mcdonald purchased 11,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.