Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.75.

Several research firms have commented on DLB. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barrington Research decreased their price target on Dolby Laboratories from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Dolby Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st.

Dolby Laboratories Price Performance

DLB stock opened at $66.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.58. Dolby Laboratories has a 12 month low of $60.14 and a 12 month high of $84.15.

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

Dolby Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Dolby Laboratories

In other news, CAO Ryan Nicholson sold 2,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.38, for a total value of $177,035.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,453,139.28. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John D. Couling sold 7,273 shares of Dolby Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.75, for a total value of $500,018.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 108,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,429,468.75. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 96,924 shares of company stock valued at $6,500,521 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 37.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dolby Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,756,924 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $561,369,000 after purchasing an additional 203,411 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Dolby Laboratories by 8.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,261,059 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $167,906,000 after buying an additional 180,072 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Dolby Laboratories by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,885,246 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $122,749,000 after buying an additional 254,250 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,880,528 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $120,768,000 after acquiring an additional 361,871 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 51.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736,260 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $128,935,000 after acquiring an additional 592,282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

Dolby Laboratories Company 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.