Wall Street Zen Upgrades Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) to Buy

Key Points

• Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) has been upgraded to a Buy rating by Wall Street Zen, which reflects positive sentiment from several research analysts.
• The company surpassed analysts' expectations in its latest quarterly earnings, reporting $0.78 EPS against a consensus estimate of $0.72, alongside a revenue of $315.55 million.
• Despite the positive ratings, shares of Dolby Laboratories were down 0.6%, opening at $71.68, with a twelve-month trading range of $68.24 to $89.66.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on DLB. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Dolby Laboratories from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dolby Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.00.

Dolby Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of DLB traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.80. 399,571 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 435,780. Dolby Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $68.24 and a fifty-two week high of $89.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.10 and a 200-day moving average of $75.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67 and a beta of 0.93.

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The electronics maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.06. Dolby Laboratories had a net margin of 19.62% and a return on equity of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $315.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Dolby Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Dolby Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.880-4.030 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.610-0.760 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Dolby Laboratories will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dolby Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Dolby Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.35%.

Insider Transactions at Dolby Laboratories

In related news, SVP Shriram Revankar sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.92, for a total transaction of $524,440.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 70,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,276,990.20. This trade represents a 9.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Yeaman sold 39,875 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.82, for a total transaction of $2,983,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 114,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,583,724.50. The trade was a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,049 shares of company stock worth $9,920,281 over the last three months. 38.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dolby Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Dolby Laboratories in the first quarter worth $25,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dolby Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Dolby Laboratories by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 348 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Dolby Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Dolby Laboratories by 590.4% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 504 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. 58.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.