Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on DLB. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Dolby Laboratories from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th.

Dolby Laboratories Stock Performance

Dolby Laboratories stock opened at $78.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.86 and a beta of 0.98. Dolby Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $66.35 and a fifty-two week high of $90.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.97.

Dolby Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. This is a positive change from Dolby Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Dolby Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 44.28%.

Dolby Laboratories declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 7th that permits the company to buyback $350.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the electronics maker to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Dolby Laboratories

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Yeaman sold 50,000 shares of Dolby Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.54, for a total transaction of $4,027,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,742,889.34. The trade was a 37.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Peter C. Gotcher sold 6,079 shares of Dolby Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.96, for a total value of $479,997.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,968,343.28. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,091 shares of company stock worth $12,027,697 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 39.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dolby Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in Dolby Laboratories by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,344,963 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $185,791,000 after purchasing an additional 60,114 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,931,586 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $147,824,000 after purchasing an additional 29,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Dolby Laboratories by 4.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,538,583 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $117,767,000 after buying an additional 63,293 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its holdings in Dolby Laboratories by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,466,212 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $112,209,000 after purchasing an additional 63,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 185.3% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,075,076 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $82,276,000 after buying an additional 698,283 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

About Dolby Laboratories

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.