Gabelli Funds LLC Raises Holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 456,185 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,950 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $40,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Markel Corp raised its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,922,665 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $263,713,000 after acquiring an additional 42,500 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 9,624 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Walt Disney by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 9,949 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walt Disney by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,918 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Walt Disney by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 828,308 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $113,611,000 after buying an additional 4,722 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DIS shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Walt Disney in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Atlantic Securities downgraded shares of Walt Disney from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $113.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walt Disney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 10th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on shares of Walt Disney from $126.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Walt Disney from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.30.

Walt Disney Price Performance

DIS stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $94.15. 12,201,304 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,275,981. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The Walt Disney Company has a 12-month low of $78.73 and a 12-month high of $118.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.95 and its 200 day moving average is $87.21. The company has a market cap of $172.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 8th. The entertainment giant reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $21.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.37 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 2.65%. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.

About Walt Disney

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an entertainment company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution; and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. The company engages in the film and episodic television content production and distribution activities, as well as operates television networks under the ABC, Disney, ESPN, Freeform, FX, Fox, National Geographic, and Star brands; and studios that produces films under the Walt Disney Pictures, Twentieth Century Studios, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and Searchlight Pictures banners.