The Walt Disney Company $DIS Stock Sold by Focused Investors LLC

Focused Investors LLC decreased its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 15.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,399,550 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 265,100 shares during the quarter. Walt Disney comprises about 6.1% of Focused Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Focused Investors LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $146,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Walt Disney by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,266 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Walt Disney by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,192 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. grew its position in Walt Disney by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. now owns 32,991 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. grew its position in Walt Disney by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 32,101 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,090,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co increased its stake in Walt Disney by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 6,435 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Walt Disney

Here are the key news stories impacting Walt Disney this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Disney and WWE expanded their partnership, including a planned two-day event at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World. The deal could bring additional event activity and audiences to Disney’s resort and sports properties. Disney, WWE Ink Expanded Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Disney is considering thousands of job cuts, with some managers reportedly asked to find savings of up to 20%. If executed without impairing operations, lower expenses could support profitability; CEO Josh D’Amaro reportedly intends to reinvest some savings in content, parks and cruises. Disney plans several thousand layoffs, asks some managers to cut costs by up to 20%
• Neutral Sentiment: EVP Brent Woodford sold 6,474 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan and retained 62,995 shares. The planned nature of the transaction makes it a limited signal about his view of Disney’s near-term prospects. SEC Form 4 filing
• Negative Sentiment: The scale of the reported layoffs and broad cost-reduction targets may raise concerns about execution, employee disruption and whether cuts could affect creative output or guest experience. The savings and reinvestment plan is not yet detailed. Disney eyes thousands of layoffs, managers asked to cut 20% in costs

Insider Activity

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Paul M. Roeder sold 3,596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.32, for a total transaction of $382,326.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brent Woodford sold 7,238 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.31, for a total transaction of $762,233.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 62,323 shares in the company, valued at $6,563,235.13. The trade was a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,400 shares of company stock worth $2,957,085. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walt Disney Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Walt Disney stock opened at $114.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $107.54 and a 200 day moving average of $103.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.44. The Walt Disney Company has a fifty-two week low of $92.18 and a fifty-two week high of $117.09.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The entertainment giant reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.20. Walt Disney had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 9.90%. The business had revenue of $25.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Truist Financial set a $115.00 price target on Walt Disney in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Walt Disney from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. UBS Group set a $115.00 target price on Walt Disney in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.16.

Walt Disney Profile

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is a global entertainment and media company that develops, produces and distributes branded content through film studios, television networks and streaming services. Its portfolio includes Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and other entertainment brands, with distribution through services such as Disney+ and Hulu.

Disney also operates ESPN and related sports media businesses, as well as theme parks, resorts, cruise lines and vacation experiences.