Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) Raises Dividend to $0.33 Per Share

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.33 per share by the electronics maker on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a boost from Dolby Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Dolby Laboratories has increased its dividend by an average of 8.1% annually over the last three years. Dolby Laboratories has a payout ratio of 52.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Dolby Laboratories to earn $2.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.0%.

Dolby Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:DLB opened at $78.32 on Monday. Dolby Laboratories has a one year low of $66.35 and a one year high of $90.06. The company has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.90.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Dolby Laboratories from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Dolby Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Dolby Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John D. Couling sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total transaction of $563,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 106,806 shares in the company, valued at $8,597,883. This represents a 6.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Yeaman sold 28,512 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total value of $2,113,309.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,205,400.52. This represents a 25.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,091 shares of company stock valued at $12,027,697 over the last quarter. Insiders own 39.54% of the company’s stock.

Dolby Laboratories Company Profile

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.