Ascentis Independent Advisors Purchases 7,944 Shares of The Walt Disney Company $DIS

Key Points

• Ascentis Independent Advisors increased its Walt Disney stake by 170.1% in the first quarter, buying 7,944 shares and bringing its total holding to 12,613 shares worth about $1.216 million.
• Institutional interest in Disney remains broad, with several hedge funds raising positions and 65.71% of the stock now owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Wall Street sentiment is still mostly positive, with ratings including Rosenblatt’s Buy and a $126 price target, while Disney also faces some pressure from a recent stock pullback and a Raymond James price-target cut to $111.

Ascentis Independent Advisors raised its holdings in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS - Free Report) by 170.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,613 shares of the entertainment giant's stock after purchasing an additional 7,944 shares during the quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors' holdings in Walt Disney were worth $1,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 26,767 shares of the entertainment giant's stock worth $2,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,904 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Walt Disney by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,470 shares of the entertainment giant's stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 17,955 shares of the entertainment giant's stock worth $2,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,503 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 28.6% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,330 shares of the entertainment giant's stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Walt Disney by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 115,759 shares of the entertainment giant's stock worth $14,355,000 after purchasing an additional 11,304 shares in the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Walt Disney

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

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its Buy rating on Disney and set a $126 price target, implying meaningful upside from recent levels. Benzinga article
• Positive Sentiment: Disney is reportedly among the companies interested in U.S. FIFA World Cup broadcast rights for 2030 and 2034, which could expand ESPN’s sports content if it wins part of the package. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Disney’s animated film Hexed received a California film tax credit, which could modestly support production economics for its studio pipeline. AOL article
• Neutral Sentiment: Disney continues defending The View as a news program in response to FCC scrutiny, but the issue is still more of a regulatory overhang than a confirmed financial hit. Los Angeles Times article
• Neutral Sentiment: Disney is also facing questions around ABC license review and broader FCC compliance concerns, adding uncertainty but not an immediate earnings impact. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several stories about park refurbishments, restaurant closures, and nostalgia pieces around Disney World are largely consumer-interest content and are unlikely to move the stock on their own. MSN article
• Negative Sentiment: A recent report noted Disney shares have been under pressure, with year-to-date performance weaker and the stock trading below key moving averages, reflecting cautious market sentiment. Yahoo Finance article
• Negative Sentiment: Raymond James reportedly cut its price target on Disney to $111 from $119, which may have weighed on investor confidence even though the rating remained positive. Stocktwits article

Analyst Ratings Changes

DIS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Walt Disney from $119.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $148.00 to $146.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wolfe Research set a $131.00 price objective on Walt Disney in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $126.00 target price on shares of Walt Disney in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.33.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Shares of Walt Disney stock opened at $97.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The Walt Disney Company has a one year low of $92.18 and a one year high of $123.71. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $101.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.39.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The entertainment giant reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.08. Walt Disney had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 8.92%. The company had revenue of $25.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Walt Disney has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.640-6.640 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Walt Disney Company will post 6.86 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.

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