First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Holdings in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,712 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 4,792 shares during the period. Walt Disney comprises 2.5% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $11,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walt Disney by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,887,754 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $12,148,402,000 after buying an additional 994,575 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,318,444 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,592,010,000 after acquiring an additional 195,512 shares in the last quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 411.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. now owns 32,868,307 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,663,976,000 after acquiring an additional 26,443,257 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 24,859,476 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $2,014,861,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Walt Disney by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,776,815 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,683,961,000 after acquiring an additional 217,567 shares in the last quarter. 65.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DIS shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays upgraded shares of Walt Disney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Walt Disney from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walt Disney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walt Disney news, EVP Sonia L. Coleman sold 1,857 shares of Walt Disney stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.92, for a total transaction of $226,405.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $536,448. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walt Disney Stock Down 0.0 %

DIS opened at $112.73 on Friday. The Walt Disney Company has a 1-year low of $78.73 and a 1-year high of $123.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $114.18 and a 200-day moving average of $99.66.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The entertainment giant reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $23.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.71 billion. Walt Disney had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 3.36%. Walt Disney’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Walt Disney Company will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Walt Disney Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a yield of 0.5%. Walt Disney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.52%.

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.