"The Lion King" Success Has Disney Stock Back Near Record Highs

Disney stock is set to resume its long-term climb

Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is in focus this morning following the release of its highly anticipated "The Lion King" remake, which brought in $531 million globally, and $185 million here at home, making it the largest U.S. July movie opening ever. And while critic reviews came in mixed, the film received an 89% score from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, a popular movie review website. Against this backdrop, DIS stock is up 0.7% at $140.80.

On the charts, Disney stock has been climbing higher over the long term, though it recently pulled back from its July 12 record high of $145.43. However, the shares found a foothold at their 30-day moving average, and today's rise puts them back near their all-time peak. Year-to-date, DIS is up 27%, and supporting the security has been its rising 40-day moving average.

Unsurprisingly, analysts have been extremely supportive of the Dow stock, with 12 of 15 sporting a "buy" or better rating coming into today. Plus, the equity's average 12-month price target of $153.82 comes in 10% above Friday's close.

Lastly, near-term options traders are unusually call-skewed on DIS. This is per the security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.42, which ranks in the 20th percentile of its annual range.