Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner Buys Up IAC Stock
Former Walt Disney DIS +0.85% CEO Michael Eisner just scooped up a large block of shares of the embattled internet and media company IAC.
IAC IAC +0.86% stock (ticker: IAC) has lost almost two-thirds of its market value so far this year. Business has slowed at the company’s majority-owned home-services business, Angi ANGI +3.95% (ANGI). A weak advertising market has pressured the bottom line. Some think that IAC stock is primed for a rebound after a stretch of underperformance.
Eisner paid $5 million on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 for a total of 106,241 IAC shares, at an average price of $47.13 each, according to a form he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He now owns 157,084 shares in a personal account, in addition to another 40,555 shares through a trust.
Eisner didn’t respond to a request for comment left with Tornante, his investment vehicle that invests in media and entertainment properties.
He last purchased IAC stock on the open market in August 2020, when a trust he controls paid $5 million for 40,555 shares, an average price of $122.85 each. Eisner left Disney at the end of 2005 and was succeeded by Bob Iger, who recently returned to head Disney again.
Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju raised his target price on IAC stock to $108 from $101 on Nov. 10, after the company reported third-quarter earnings. Ju maintained an Outperform rating, citing the company’s exposure to “multiple attractive end markets,” including online advertising, online gambling, peer-to-peer ride-sharing, and the large stake in Angi.