Insider Selling: Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) CAO Sells $12,376.26 in Stock

Key Points

• Barnes & Noble Education CAO Gary Luster sold 1,066 shares on July 10 at an average price of $11.61, totaling about $12,376. The sale reduced his holdings by 3.23%, according to an SEC filing.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting quarterly EPS of $0.10 versus the $0.07 consensus estimate, though revenue of $267.1 million came in slightly below expectations.
• BNED also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, payable July 30, which works out to an annualized dividend yield of 2.6%.

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE:BNED - Get Free Report) CAO Gary Luster sold 1,066 shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.61, for a total transaction of $12,376.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 31,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $370,753.74. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Barnes & Noble Education Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, reaching $12.26. The company had a trading volume of 241,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,999. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $10.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.71. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc has a 52-week low of $5.90 and a 52-week high of $14.75. The firm has a market cap of $424.69 million, a PE ratio of 26.09 and a beta of 1.29.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Barnes & Noble Education had a net margin of 0.98% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $267.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $267.55 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Barnes & Noble Education, Inc will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barnes & Noble Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th.

Institutional Trading of Barnes & Noble Education

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,872 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 5,733 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education in the 1st quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the second quarter worth about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Barnes & Noble Education Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.