Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) Short Interest Up 20.9% in September

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 800,400 shares, a growth of 20.9% from the August 31st total of 662,300 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 499,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on DLB. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Dolby Laboratories Stock Up 1.2 %

DLB stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $76.53. 494,811 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 418,481. Dolby Laboratories has a twelve month low of $66.35 and a twelve month high of $90.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.05 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.94.

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The electronics maker reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.14. Dolby Laboratories had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The firm had revenue of $288.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $286.26 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Dolby Laboratories will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

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

Dolby Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Dolby Laboratories’s payout ratio is 61.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DLB. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Dolby Laboratories by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,589 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 59,307 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,527 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 90,042 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,818 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its position in Dolby Laboratories by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 9,506 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Dolby Laboratories by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 27,071 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,333,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.