Dow 30 Stocks List: 15 Stocks Ranked By 2022 Hedge Fund Bullishness Index

05. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders as of Q3, 2022: 112

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is an entertainment powerhouse that owns many leading brands such as Lucasfilm and Pixar. Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne on December 12 maintained an Overweight rating on The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) but lowered his price target on the shares to $115 from $125. He trimmed his estimates to reflect updated FY23 guidance, which he views as “achievable even with the current macro environment and linear pressures.” The return of Bob Iger as CEO offers the opportunity to reorganize Disney’s Media businesses to prioritize driving overall consolidated earnings growth, added the analyst.

According to Insider Monkey’s data, 112 hedge funds were bullish on The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) at the end of the third quarter of 2022, compared to 109 funds in the last quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is a prominent stakeholder of the company, with 5.14 million shares worth $485 million.

Here is what Third Point specifically said about The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

“As disclosed in our Q2 letter, we reinitiated a significant position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) when the company retested its Covid lows earlier this year. At the current price, Disney is trading for little more than the stand-alone value of its Parks business and a mere 15x ’24 “street” consensus. The company remains early in its Direct to Consumer (“DTC”) transition with a leading market position, and yet the current stock price ascribes negligible value to the streaming business. We believe this is due to questions around the terminal economics of streaming, given large losses being generated today at Disney (>$1 billion dollars last quarter) and stagnating margins at peers such as Netflix. On the last earnings call, management highlighted three items that could lead to an inflection in DTC profitability over the next 12 months: a 38% price increase for Disney+ in the US; moderating growth in cash content expense; and an advertising tier for Disney+ launching in two months that can drive additional ARPU given high demand for the Disney brand amongst advertisers.…” (Click here to view the full text)