Disney Stock (DIS) on November 29, 2025: Institutional Buying, Streaming Profits and New Legal Risks

Published: November 29, 2025 – Information only, not investment advice.

Disney stock snapshot on November 29, 2025

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is ending the week in the middle of its 2025 trading range. Recent quotes put Disney stock around $104–105 per share, with a 52‑week range of $80.10 to $124.69 and a market cap near $186 billion. ^[1]

At this level, Walt Disney shares trade on roughly a price‑to‑earnings ratio of about 16.3 and a PEG ratio around 1.45, with a debt‑to‑equity ratio of only 0.32 — relatively modest leverage for a global media and theme‑park group. ^[2]

Despite a strong rebound from the 52‑week low, Disney stock is still down low double‑digits over the past year and modestly negative year‑to‑date, lagging a U.S. equity market that’s up roughly the low teens over the same period. ^[3]

Technically, sentiment is mixed to cautious. Investing.com’s daily technical summary currently screens DIS as a “Strong Sell” on a daily basis, while third‑party models like CoinCodex and others also classify the near‑term technical picture as bearish overall, with more indicators flashing red than green. ^[4]

Against that backdrop, today’s Disney stock news flow is dominated by fresh institutional‑ownership filings and updated views on the post‑earnings outlook.

What’s moving Disney stock today? (November 29, 2025 news roundup)

Even with U.S. markets closed for the weekend, November 29, 2025 has brought a cluster of Disney‑related headlines. Here are the key stock‑specific stories dated today.

1. Pension funds and asset managers keep buying Disney

Several new SEC Form 13F‑based articles published today highlight net institutional buying of DIS during the second quarter, even as the share price has drifted lower in recent weeks:

New York State Common Retirement Fund
The giant public pension fund increased its Disney stake by 1.0% in Q2, adding 23,224 shares to reach 2,342,965 shares worth about $290.6 million, or roughly 0.13% of the company. ^[5]
First National Advisers LLC
This wealth‑management firm boosted its Disney position by 73.9%, buying 10,144 shares to reach 23,867 shares valued at about $2.96 million. ^[6]
Giverny Capital Inc.
Giverny raised its holdings by 5.2%, now owning 260,475 Disney shares worth roughly $32.3 million; DIS represents about 1.1% of the firm’s portfolio. ^[7]
Level Four Advisory Services LLC
Level Four lifted its stake by 5.6%, purchasing 2,456 additional shares to hold 46,414 shares valued around $5.76 million. ^[8]
Johnson Financial Group Inc. and Virtue Capital Management LLC trim positions
Not all flows are one‑way. Johnson Financial Group reduced its Disney holdings by 65.1%, selling 2,848 shares and ending Q2 with 1,527 shares worth about $189,000. ^[9]
Virtue Capital cut its stake by 49.8%, selling 4,134 shares and finishing the quarter with 4,163 shares valued near $516,000. ^[10]

Collectively, these filings reinforce an existing pattern: roughly two‑thirds of Disney’s float (about 65.7%) is held by institutions and hedge funds, with many long‑only investors still adding on weakness even as some smaller firms take profits or reallocate. ^[11]

They also follow sizeable purchases disclosed yesterday, including a new $2.62 billion investment by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank, and large additions from Loomis Sayles and Ceredex Value Advisors, underscoring that the recent sell‑off has attracted deep‑pocketed buyers. ^[12]

2. Jim Cramer calls Disney stock a “hold”

A widely read piece at Insider Monkey today recaps CNBC host Jim Cramer’s recent commentary on Disney, placing the company among “16 Stocks Jim Cramer Recently Talked About.” ^[13]

According to that recap, Cramer:

Classifies Disney as a “hold”, arguing the stock is “too cheap to give away” at current levels but questioning whether earnings are strong enough to justify a major new buy.
Notes that Disney’s most recent quarter was better than the market reaction suggested, but not a home run.
Warns that if the company were to deliver a genuinely weak quarter after investors already punished the stock for a “good but not great” one, the downside could be painful. ^[14]

In essence, the takeaway is that Cramer sees DIS as undervalued but risky in the near term, matching the broader “cautiously constructive” tone on Wall Street.

3. Quant and AI models weigh in: bullish probabilities vs bearish charts

New today, AI‑driven platform Danelfin gives Disney stock an AI Score of 9/10 (“Buy”), claiming DIS has a roughly 65% probability of outperforming the S&P 500 over the next three months, versus about 55% for the average U.S. stock. ^[15]

That optimistic quantitative signal clashes with several technically focused services that flag a bearish short‑term setup, including CoinCodex’s reading of the indicator mix as roughly two‑thirds bearish and Investing.com’s daily “Strong Sell” technical label. ^[16]

For traders, that split highlights a familiar Disney theme:

Fundamentals and long‑term models lean bullish, while near‑term price action and momentum screens remain cautious.

Recap: Disney’s Q4 FY25 earnings and 2026 guidance

Most of today’s commentary traces back to Disney’s fourth‑quarter and full‑year fiscal 2025 earnings, released on November 13, 2025.

Headline numbers

For the quarter ended September 27, 2025, Disney reported: ^[17]

Revenue: $22.46 billion (essentially flat year over year and slightly below Wall Street’s ~$22.78 billion consensus).
Diluted EPS: $1.11, beating expectations of $1.03 but down from $1.14 in the prior‑year quarter. ^[18]
Total segment operating income: $3.48 billion, down 5% year over year for the quarter, but up 12% to $17.55 billion for the full year.
Full‑year revenue: $94.43 billion, up 3% from fiscal 2024.
Income before income taxes: $12.0 billion for the year, up 59% from $7.57 billion a year earlier.

The market initially focused on the top‑line miss and weakness in film and TV, sending Disney stock down nearly 8% on the day of the release, even though overall earnings and guidance were solid. ^[19]

Segment performance: Entertainment vs Sports vs Experiences

Disney now reports in three main segments: Entertainment, Sports, and Experiences. The latest numbers show a company being pulled in different directions. ^[20]

Entertainment (film, TV, and core media networks)
- Q4 revenue: $10.21 billion, down 6% year over year.
- Q4 segment operating income: $691 million, down 35%, reflecting softer box office and TV results and tougher advertising trends.
- The Financial Times noted that Disney’s film division swung to a small operating loss compared with a healthy profit a year ago, as 2025’s slate underperformed prior blockbusters. ^[21]
Sports (ESPN and related assets)
- Q4 revenue: $3.98 billion, up 2%.
- Q4 operating income: $911 million, down 2%, but up 20% for the full year, helped by pricing and cost discipline. ^[22]
Experiences (parks, resorts, cruises, and consumer products)
- Q4 revenue: $8.77 billion, up 6%.
- Q4 operating income: $1.88 billion, up 13%. ^[23]

Experiences remains Disney’s profit engine, with full‑year operating income approaching $10 billion, a milestone CFO Hugh Johnston highlighted recently. ^[24]

Streaming and ESPN: growth engines for Disney stock

If 2020–2022 were about burning cash to gain streaming subscribers, 2025 is the year Disney finally made its direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) operations meaningfully profitable.

Key details from Q4 FY25 and subsequent commentary: ^[25]

Streaming revenue across Disney+, Hulu and other DTC channels rose 8% year over year in Q4 to $6.2 billion.
DTC operating income jumped 39% to $352 million in the quarter.
For the full year, Disney generated $1.33 billion in streaming operating income, beating its $1.3 billion target.
Disney+ and Hulu together reached roughly 195–196 million subscribers globally.

Management has also laid out an ambitious roadmap:

Targeting double‑digit revenue growth and double‑digit operating margins in streaming by 2026. ^[26]
Building a unified app experience that brings Disney+, Hulu and ESPN content closer together, with a stand‑alone ESPN DTC product positioned as a major growth driver. ^[27]

For Disney stock, the streaming narrative matters because investors now see DTC as a credible profit center, not just a costly arms race with Netflix and tech rivals.

Parks and Experiences: still the profit powerhouse

At the Wells Fargo Technology, Media & Telecom Summit on November 19, CFO Hugh Johnston underscored how critical the Experiences segment is to Disney’s earnings story. ^[28]

Highlights:

Experiences operating income hit about $10 billion for fiscal 2025, the first time Disney has reached that level.
Domestic park attendance fell about 1–2% over the past year, partly due to a hurricane impact and new competition in Orlando, but per‑capita guest spending rose around 5%, keeping earnings growth positive. ^[29]
Domestic park earnings still grew high single digits, and international parks delivered double‑digit revenue growth, aided by strong demand at Disneyland Paris and continued cruise strength. ^[30]
Disney is rolling out new attractions globally, including Spider‑Man experiences in Shanghai, Lion King‑themed expansions in Paris, cruise‑fleet additions, and a major new park project in Abu Dhabi. ^[31]

The message to investors: parks may face cyclical bumps, but the business remains highly profitable and growing, with management expecting high‑single‑digit operating‑income growth in Experiences again in fiscal 2026. ^[32]

Dividend, buybacks and balance sheet: Disney leans into shareholder returns

One of the most important developments for long‑term Disney shareholders this month is the return of a meaningful dividend and bigger buybacks.

Dividend boost

On November 13, Disney’s board declared a cash dividend of $1.50 per share, to be paid in two installments of $0.75: ^[33]

First installment: January 15, 2026, for shareholders of record on December 15, 2025.
Second installment: July 22, 2026, for shareholders of record on June 30, 2026.

At the current share price, that works out to a forward dividend yield of roughly 1.2%, modest but notable after Disney suspended its dividend during the pandemic. ^[34]

Buybacks and cash flow

At the Wells Fargo summit, Johnston reiterated that Disney aims to be an “earnings compounder”, projecting: ^[35]

Double‑digit EPS growth in fiscal 2026 (excluding the extra 53rd week) and again in 2027.
Around $10 billion in free cash flow next year.
A 50% increase in the dividend and a doubling of share repurchases to around $7 billion in fiscal 2026.

With net leverage moderate and the Experiences segment throwing off substantial cash, Wall Street has generally welcomed the more shareholder‑friendly posture.

Analyst targets and Wall Street sentiment

Analysts remain broadly constructive on Disney stock, even after the post‑earnings sell‑off.

MarketBeat’s consensus shows 27 analysts covering Disney with an overall “Moderate Buy” rating — 18 Buys, 8 Holds and 1 Sell. ^[36]
The average 12‑month price target is about $134–135, implying roughly 29% upside from the current ~$104 price. ^[37]
Individual houses are split on how aggressive to be:
- UBS maintains a Buy rating with a $138 target, citing strong parks and content outlook. ^[38]
- TD Cowen keeps a Hold with a $123 target, reflecting lingering concerns around linear TV and box‑office volatility. ^[39]
- Jefferies recently trimmed its target from $144 to $136 but stayed at Buy, while Guggenheim reiterated a $140 Buy. ^[40]

Meanwhile, short interest in Disney sits at just 1.09% of the float, or 19.5 million shares, with a days‑to‑cover ratio of 1.4 — low by market standards, though short interest is up a little over 6% from the prior report. ^[41]

That mix — moderately bullish analyst targets, low but slightly rising short interest, and skeptical technicals — paints a picture of a stock where fundamental bulls and tactical bears are both active.

New legal risks: InterDigital patent injunctions

One newer overhang for Disney stock comes from patent litigation tied to its streaming platforms.

On November 24, 2025, technology R&D firm InterDigital announced that Germany’s Munich Regional Court had granted it an injunction against Disney for infringing a patent related to streaming high‑dynamic‑range (HDR) video. This was the second injunction InterDigital has secured against Disney in that court, following an earlier win over technology for dynamically overlaying video streams. ^[42]

InterDigital also obtained a preliminary injunction in Brazil, where a court likewise found that Disney had infringed both patents at issue. Disney retains the right to appeal these rulings. ^[43]

So far, there has been no public indication of immediate shutdowns or major service disruptions for Disney+ or Hulu, but the cases could:

Force Disney to negotiate a licensing agreement on less‑favorable terms than it might prefer.
Add legal and compliance costs.
Introduce headline risk if enforcement steps threaten specific markets.

For long‑term shareholders, the injunctions are unlikely to be thesis‑defining on their own, but they’re a reminder that Disney’s streaming success depends partly on licensed technology as well as its own IP.

Key takeaways for Disney stock investors

Putting today’s news and the recent earnings cycle together, five themes stand out for DIS stock as of November 29, 2025:

Institutional investors are net buyers on weakness
Large pension funds and asset managers — from Norges Bank and Ceredex Value Advisors to New York State Common Retirement Fund, Giverny Capital, Loomis Sayles and others — have increased their Disney stakes in recent quarters, even as some smaller firms trim positions. ^[44]
Fundamentals are improving, but unevenly
- Streaming is now profitable and growing, beating Disney’s own fiscal 2025 profit target. ^[45]
- Parks and Experiences continue to drive record operating income despite modest attendance declines and macro headwinds. ^[46]
- Traditional Entertainment (film and TV) remains a weak spot, with margins under pressure and box‑office results more hit‑or‑miss than in the pre‑pandemic era. ^[47]
Shareholder returns are back in focus
A restored dividend, planned dividend growth, and $7 billion in annual buybacks signal that Disney is shifting from pure turnaround mode to cash‑return mode, which historically has supported valuations for mature media giants. ^[48]
Sentiment is split between long‑term optimism and near‑term caution
- Wall Street’s consensus “Moderate Buy” and ~$134–135 average target imply meaningful upside from current prices. ^[49]
- Technical and options‑driven indicators skew bearish, reflecting the stock’s recent drawdown and the risk that another weak quarter could shake investor confidence. ^[50]
- Commentators like Jim Cramer frame Disney as a hold: cheap enough to keep, but not compelling enough (yet) to bet big on ahead of the next earnings print. ^[51]
Legal and competitive risks remain real
The InterDigital patent disputes, softness in certain film and TV franchises, and intensifying competition across streaming and theme parks all represent ongoing risks that could pressure margins or require additional investment. ^[52]

Bottom line

As of November 29, 2025, Disney stock sits at the crossroads of a multi‑year turnaround:

Valuation: mid‑teens earnings multiple, modest dividend yield, and analyst targets suggesting high‑20s percentage upside. ^[53]
Business mix: cash‑rich parks and a now‑profitable streaming arm offset by challenged traditional media operations. ^[54]
Sentiment: institutions and many analysts are leaning in, while technicians, some hedge funds and TV personalities urge caution on timing. ^[55]

For prospective or current shareholders, the key questions over the next 12–18 months are likely to be:

Can Disney sustain streaming profitability while keeping churn and content costs in check?
Will Experiences continue to deliver high single‑digit earnings growth if the global consumer softens?
Can the film and TV pipeline reignite excitement enough to support the broader brand — and the stock?

If the company hits its targets of double‑digit EPS growth and robust free cash flow, the current price could prove attractive. If not, November’s sell‑off may be a preview rather than a buying opportunity.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation to buy or sell securities, or an offer to provide investment advisory services. Always conduct your own research or consult a qualified financial professional before making investment decisions.

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