Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Walt Disney Call Options (NYSE:DIS)

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 101,728 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 46% compared to the typical volume of 69,916 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.84, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,831 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,190,748.04. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walt Disney

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DIS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $15,383,615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446,087 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,482,309 shares of the entertainment giant's stock worth $4,272,590,000 after purchasing an additional 809,989 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 bought a new stake in Walt Disney during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,415,427,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Walt Disney by 9.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 18,509,924 shares of the entertainment giant's stock worth $1,826,930,000 after buying an additional 1,642,907 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DIS. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Walt Disney in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Walt Disney from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Walt Disney from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Walt Disney from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.96.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Shares of DIS stock traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $117.85. 11,092,058 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,073,903. The company's 50 day moving average price is $100.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.90. The company has a market cap of $211.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.39, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.54. Walt Disney has a 12 month low of $80.10 and a 12 month high of $120.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The entertainment giant reported $1.45 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $23.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walt Disney will post 5.47 earnings per share 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.