Gary Luster Sells 1,066 Shares of Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Stock

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE:BNED) CAO Gary Luster sold 1,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.61, for a total transaction of $12,376.26. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 31,934 shares in the company, valued at $370,753.74. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Performance

Shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock opened at $12.73 on Thursday. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc has a one year low of $5.90 and a one year high of $14.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $440.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The specialty retailer reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $267.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.55 million. Barnes & Noble Education had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 0.98%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Barnes & Noble Education, Inc will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barnes & Noble Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BNED. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 261.1% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,972 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,872 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 205.5% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 1,412.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,139 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the first quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in Barnes & Noble Education during the second quarter worth about $96,000. 38.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BNED. Northland Securities set a $18.50 price target on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Barnes & Noble Education has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.25.

About Barnes & Noble Education

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE: BNED) is a leading provider of educational products and services to the higher education community. The company operates retail campus bookstores under Barnes & Noble College, offering course materials, general merchandise, and digital content. In addition, Barnes & Noble Education delivers educational technology solutions through its digital learning platform and supplemental courseware.

Originally part of Barnes & Noble, Inc, the company completed its spin-off and initial public offering in February 2015 to focus exclusively on college retail and digital learning.