First Merchants Corp Purchases 386 Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

First Merchants Corp lifted its position in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,509 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $3,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DIS. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Walt Disney by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 19,197,463 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,137,637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636,742 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walt Disney by 12,574.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,426,393 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $329,585,000 after buying an additional 3,399,359 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 8.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,416,668 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,310,539,000 after buying an additional 2,765,389 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 114.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,307,794 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $414,582,000 after buying an additional 2,298,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Walt Disney by 112.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,142,991 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $398,508,000 after buying an additional 2,188,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DIS shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Walt Disney in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Prescient Securities reduced their target price on Walt Disney from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.85.

Walt Disney Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Walt Disney stock opened at $109.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $198.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.68. The Walt Disney Company has a 52-week low of $83.91 and a 52-week high of $123.74.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The entertainment giant reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Walt Disney had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 9.95%. On average, analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. This represents a yield of 0.6%. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is 32.57%.

Insider Transactions at Walt Disney

In other news, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.57, for a total transaction of $42,667,242.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at $25,980,695.19. This represents a 62.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brent Woodford sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.62, for a total transaction of $568,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,005,529.10. This represents a 10.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.