5 Best Diversified Stocks to Buy Now

3. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Number of Sectors: 2

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 111

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world. It represents communication and consumer discretionary sectors in the stock market and captures numerous segments within these sectors through its subsidiaries. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) operates several subsidiaries in the entertainment, news, travel & leisure markets. 

Prominent among its assets include Disneyland Resort, Marvel Studios, 20th Century Studios, Pixar, ABC Entertainment Group, 73% equity in National Geographic Partners, 80% equity in ESPN, Disneyland Store Worldwide, Disney Cruise Line and  Fox Networks Group. Through these assets, the company produces entertainment, educational, news and sports content, merchandise for retail as well as travel & leisure opportunities. 

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is one of the hedge funds’ favorites given that 111 hedge funds were bullish on the company in the last quarter of 2021 with a total stake of $6.9 billion with over 70 funds in the first quarter of 2022. In the Q1 of 2022, Matrix Capital Management is the leading stakeholder in the company with equity worth over $868 million. 

ClearBridge Investments published its “Sustainability Leaders Strategy” fourth quarter investor letter in 2021 and this is what the letter had to say about the entertainment giant. 

“The communication services sector was a weak spot in both the benchmark and the portfolio in the fourth quarter. Disney announced lower than expected streaming subscriber growth to the company’s Disney+ offering, attributable primarily to the content release schedule. Disney has been ramping up content spending given strong global response to Disney+, although production capability was temporarily impacted by COVID-19. We still believe Disney is on track to reach the subscriber outlook outlined at its December 2020 analyst day, driven by a very robust slate of content releases, particularly in the 2022–2024 time period.”