Insider Selling: Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) CAO Sells 2,267 Shares of Company Stock

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE:BNED) CAO Gary Luster sold 2,267 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $25,390.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 29,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $332,270.40. This trade represents a 7.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Gary Luster also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, July 10th, Gary Luster sold 1,066 shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.61, for a total value of $12,376.26.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of BNED traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 138,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,086. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc has a 1 year low of $5.90 and a 1 year high of $14.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $393.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.00 and a 200 day moving average of $10.93.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.11. Barnes & Noble Education had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The company had revenue of $290.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.66 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Barnes & Noble Education, Inc will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barnes & Noble Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 14th. Barnes & Noble Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNED. Kanen Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 0.7% during the first quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,423,782 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,232,000 after purchasing an additional 23,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 355,943 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,143,000 after buying an additional 193,876 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the second quarter valued at approximately $785,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the second quarter worth $510,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Barnes & Noble Education in the 4th quarter valued at $144,000. Institutional investors own 38.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BNED has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Northland Securities set a $18.50 target price on Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Barnes & Noble Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Barnes & Noble Education has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

Barnes & Noble Education Company Profile

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE: BNED) is an education services company that supports colleges, universities and their students across the United States. Through institutional partnerships, the company provides retail, digital and operational solutions designed to support the delivery of course materials and campus-related products and services.

Its Barnes & Noble College business operates physical and online campus bookstores, offering new and used textbooks, textbook rentals, digital course materials, general merchandise, school apparel, supplies, technology products and convenience items.