Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Stock Price Passes Above 50-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE:BNED - Get Free Report) crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.10 and traded as high as $12.12. Barnes & Noble Education shares last traded at $11.86, with a volume of 169,586 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $18.50 price objective on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.25.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Down 2.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $411.19 million, a P/E ratio of 25.23 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.30. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The specialty retailer reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $267.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.55 million. Barnes & Noble Education had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 0.98%. As a group, research analysts expect that Barnes & Noble Education, Inc will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barnes & Noble Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Barnes & Noble Education's payout ratio is presently 68.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.64, for a total transaction of $63,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 71,762 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $907,071.68. This represents a 6.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 10,513 shares of company stock valued at $129,173 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 2,872 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 205.5% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,326 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 1,412.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,139 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 5,733 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education in the second quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education in the first quarter valued at about $73,000. 38.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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