Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $125.00 target price on the entertainment giant’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DIS. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $130.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Walt Disney from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $112.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walt Disney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.75.

Walt Disney Stock Up 10.7 %

Walt Disney stock opened at $102.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Walt Disney has a 1-year low of $80.10 and a 1-year high of $118.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $94.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.04.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The entertainment giant reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.24. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 6.07%. The company had revenue of $23.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Walt Disney will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walt Disney

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DIS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walt Disney in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,415,427,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Walt Disney by 1,900.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,735,961 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $638,699,000 after acquiring an additional 5,449,158 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Walt Disney by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,858,108 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,209,050,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,930 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Walt Disney by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 19,197,463 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $2,137,637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636,742 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walt Disney in the 4th quarter valued at $358,151,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Walt Disney Company 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.