Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Reduces Position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lessened its holdings in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 30.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,416 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 2,399 shares during the quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DIS. Partnership Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,163 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. grew its stake in Walt Disney by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 14,712 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its holdings in Walt Disney by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 42,962 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $4,784,000 after buying an additional 4,308 shares during the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Walt Disney by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 8,483 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InvesTrust acquired a new position in shares of Walt Disney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,118,000. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DIS. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walt Disney in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Walt Disney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.54.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of DIS stock opened at $109.63 on Friday. The Walt Disney Company has a 1-year low of $83.91 and a 1-year high of $123.74. The company has a market capitalization of $198.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.40.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Walt Disney had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 9.21%. The business had revenue of $22.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.90%.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $568,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares in the company, valued at $5,005,529.10. This trade represents a 10.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.57, for a total value of $42,667,242.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 385,412 shares of company stock valued at $44,153,263. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.