Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 1,322,000 Shares of The Walt Disney Company $DIS

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD sold 1,322,000 shares of The Walt Disney Company, reducing its stake by 11.9% and holding a total of 9,814,276 shares, valued at approximately $968.67 million.
• A mix of hedge funds have also modified their positions in Disney, including T. Rowe Price Investment Management, which increased its stake by 35.3% in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Disney, with current consensus indicating a "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $131.18, despite one analyst downgrading the stock from "strong-buy" to "buy."

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS - Free Report) by 11.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,814,276 shares of the entertainment giant's stock after selling 1,322,000 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.55% of Walt Disney worth $968,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new position in Walt Disney in the 1st quarter valued at $6,989,000. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walt Disney by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 5,352 shares of the entertainment giant's stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Walt Disney by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 19,837 shares of the entertainment giant's stock valued at $1,958,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Walt Disney by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 71,025 shares of the entertainment giant's stock valued at $7,011,000 after buying an additional 18,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Walt Disney by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 56,861 shares of the entertainment giant's stock valued at $5,612,000 after buying an additional 2,443 shares during the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Walt Disney from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Walt Disney from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Stephens reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.18.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of Walt Disney stock opened at $116.2350 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $208.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.56. The Walt Disney Company has a 12 month low of $80.10 and a 12 month high of $124.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $119.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.21.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The entertainment giant reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $23.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.69 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 12.22%.The firm's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

About Walt Disney

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.

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