Heartland Bank & Trust Co Takes $612,000 Position in The Walt Disney Company $DIS

Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,356 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock, valued at approximately $612,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DIS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,342,154 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $18,128,357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,207 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,873,646 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $9,604,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853,897 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,588,604 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $4,597,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,888 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in Walt Disney by 9,060.1% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 38,135,363 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $4,338,660,000 after purchasing an additional 37,719,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walt Disney during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,388,278,000. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Truist Financial set a $115.00 target price on Walt Disney in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Walt Disney from $119.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $131.00 price target on Walt Disney in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.61.

Walt Disney News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Disney struck a content partnership with Dhar Mann Studios, including a 20-episode series order. The deal expands Disney’s pipeline with creator-led, potentially cost-efficient programming and could support engagement across its streaming and media platforms. Disney Strikes Content Deal With Dhar Mann Studios
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive, with Morgan Stanley describing a potential path to $125. The thesis points to new theme-park and cruise capacity, stronger guest spending and improving demand. Disney’s advertising-supported streaming tiers may also provide resilience during an economic slowdown. Morgan Stanley Outlines Path to $125 Streaming Stocks in a Recession
• Positive Sentiment: Disney plans to launch an employee stock-purchase program and change health-insurance plans. The stock program could better align employees with shareholders, while benefits changes may help control expenses. Disney Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Neutral Sentiment: A new Disney-NFL apparel collection and additional Walt Disney World merchandise and Halloween preparations highlight continued efforts to monetize valuable intellectual property, but these announcements are unlikely to materially change near-term earnings. Disney NFL Apparel Collection
• Negative Sentiment: Executive Vice President Paul Roeder sold 3,596 DIS shares for approximately $382,000. The transaction may modestly weigh on sentiment, although a single insider sale does not necessarily signal a change in Disney’s business outlook. Disney Executive Stock Sale

Insider Transactions at Walt Disney

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 7,238 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.31, for a total value of $762,233.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 62,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,563,235.13. This represents a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 value of $382,326.72. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Walt Disney stock opened at $107.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $99.95 and a 200-day moving average of $101.47. The Walt Disney Company has a 52-week low of $92.18 and a 52-week high of $119.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.39.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The entertainment giant reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $25.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Walt Disney has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.642-6.642 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 6.9 EPS for the current year.

About Walt Disney

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), commonly known as Disney, is a diversified global entertainment and media conglomerate headquartered in Burbank, California. Founded in 1923 by Walt and Roy O. Disney, the company grew from an animation studio into a multi?national entertainment enterprise known for iconic intellectual property and family?oriented storytelling. Disney’s operations span film and television production, streaming services, theme parks and resorts, consumer products, and live entertainment.

On the content side, Disney produces and distributes feature films and television programming through a portfolio of studios and labels that includes Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Studios, along with broadcast and cable networks such as ABC, FX and National Geographic.