Natixis Advisors L.P. Raises Stake in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 38.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,981,272 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 547,636 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned 0.11% of Walt Disney worth $178,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DIS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,887,754 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $12,148,402,000 after buying an additional 994,575 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Walt Disney by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,318,444 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,592,010,000 after purchasing 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,384,407 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Walt Disney by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,776,815 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,683,961,000 after buying an additional 217,567 shares during the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walt Disney

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 stock was sold at an average price of $121.92, for a total transaction of $226,405.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $536,448. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $133.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.08.

Walt Disney Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DIS traded up $1.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $112.46. 3,775,098 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,528,316. The stock has a market cap of $206.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $114.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.32. The Walt Disney Company has a 52-week low of $78.73 and a 52-week high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The entertainment giant reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.25. Walt Disney had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The business had revenue of $23.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.52%.

About Walt Disney

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.