Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Dolby Laboratories $DLB

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in shares of Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,480 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 8,653 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Dolby Laboratories were worth $397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 68,367 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,491,000 after buying an additional 2,298 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 218.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 249,574 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $20,043,000 after purchasing an additional 171,288 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,216 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $19,131,000 after purchasing an additional 12,598 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Dolby Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $390,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Dolby Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Yeaman sold 6,751 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total value of $453,937.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 98,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,614,869.48. This represents a 6.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Andrew Sherman sold 2,491 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.26, for a total value of $167,544.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 70,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,746,067.38. The trade was a 3.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 137,120 shares of company stock valued at $9,184,809 over the last quarter. Insiders own 37.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on DLB. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dolby Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Barrington Research reduced their price objective on shares of Dolby Laboratories from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.75.

Dolby Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of DLB stock opened at $64.90 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.37. Dolby Laboratories has a 1-year low of $60.14 and a 1-year high of $85.45. The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17 and a beta of 0.86.

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $346.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $341.26 million. Dolby Laboratories had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 17.97%.The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Dolby Laboratories will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Dolby Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. Dolby Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.06%.

Dolby Laboratories Profile

Dolby Laboratories, Inc is a global leader in audio and imaging technologies, specializing in the development, licensing and deployment of solutions that enhance entertainment and communications experiences. The company’s core business revolves around creating advanced audio codecs, noise reduction systems and spatial sound technologies for a wide range of applications, including cinema, broadcast, gaming, streaming and personal devices. Dolby’s licensing model enables consumer electronics manufacturers, content creators and service providers to integrate its technologies into products such as televisions, smartphones, home theater systems and set-top boxes.

Among its flagship innovations are Dolby Atmos, an immersive audio format that delivers three-dimensional soundscapes for theaters and home systems; Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus, widely adopted audio compression formats for broadcast and streaming; and Dolby Vision, a high-dynamic-range imaging technology that expands color, contrast and brightness in displays.