Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a buy rating and set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a research report on Monday, April 29th.

Dolby Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Dolby Laboratories stock traded up $2.37 on Friday, reaching $82.08. 730,646 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 313,915. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $81.65 and its 200-day moving average is $83.22. Dolby Laboratories has a one year low of $75.87 and a one year high of $91.01. The firm has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a PE ratio of 41.88 and a beta of 0.98.

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The electronics maker reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.14. Dolby Laboratories had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $315.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.98 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Dolby Laboratories will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dolby Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. Dolby Laboratories’s payout ratio is 61.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dolby Laboratories news, SVP John D. Couling sold 33,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.81, for a total value of $2,711,983.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 108,519 shares in the company, valued at $8,769,420.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 39.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DLB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 3.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,389,084 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $506,399,000 after purchasing an additional 205,319 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Dolby Laboratories by 4.8% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,246,122 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $415,808,000 after acquiring an additional 239,578 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Dolby Laboratories by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,902,295 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $388,556,000 after acquiring an additional 523,250 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in Dolby Laboratories by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,572,346 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $221,685,000 after purchasing an additional 578,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Dolby Laboratories by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,324,244 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $194,702,000 after purchasing an additional 233,958 shares during the period. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dolby Laboratories Company Profile

Dolby Laboratories, Inc creates audio and imaging technologies that transform entertainment at the cinema, DTV transmissions and devices, mobile devices, OTT video and music services, home entertainment devices, and automobiles. The company develops and licenses its audio technologies, such as AAC & HE-AAC, a digital audio codec solution used for a range of media applications; AVC, a digital video codec with high bandwidth efficiency used in various media devices; Dolby AC-4, a digital audio coding technology that delivers new audio experiences to a range of playback devices; and Dolby Atmos technology for cinema and various media devices.