Walt Disney's (DIS) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $125.00 target price on the entertainment giant's stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price suggests a potential upside of 18.00% from the stock's previous close.

DIS has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Prescient Securities reduced their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Walt Disney from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Walt Disney from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $112.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.54.

Walt Disney Stock Performance

Shares of Walt Disney stock traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $105.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,435,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,029,150. Walt Disney has a one year low of $80.10 and a one year high of $118.63. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $93.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $191.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.49.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The entertainment giant reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $23.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.15 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 6.07%. Walt Disney's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Walt Disney will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walt Disney

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walt Disney by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 155,862,361 shares of the entertainment giant's stock worth $15,383,615,000 after buying an additional 2,446,087 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walt Disney by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,482,309 shares of the entertainment giant's stock valued at $4,272,590,000 after purchasing an additional 809,989 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Walt Disney by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,242,415 shares of the entertainment giant's stock valued at $2,476,693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,431 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walt Disney during the fourth quarter valued at $2,415,427,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. 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.