Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases Shares of 62,508 Barnes & Noble Education, Inc $BNED

Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE:BNED) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 62,508 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $785,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 119.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 355,943 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,143,000 after purchasing an additional 193,876 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the second quarter valued at about $510,000. Kanen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,423,782 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,232,000 after purchasing an additional 23,800 shares in the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Barnes & Noble Education in the fourth quarter valued at about $144,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the first quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.51% of the company’s stock.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Down 0.2%

BNED stock opened at $10.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $368.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 1.27. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $5.90 and a fifty-two week high of $14.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.84.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $290.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.66 million. Barnes & Noble Education had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 1.29%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Barnes & Noble Education, Inc will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Barnes & Noble Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. Barnes & Noble Education’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Barnes & Noble Education news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.64, for a total value of $63,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 71,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $907,071.68. This trade represents a 6.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,513 shares of company stock valued at $129,173. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BNED. Weiss Ratings upgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Northland Securities set a $18.50 price objective on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.25.

About Barnes & Noble Education

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE: BNED) is an education services company that supports colleges, universities and their students across the United States. Through institutional partnerships, the company provides retail, digital and operational solutions designed to support the delivery of course materials and campus-related products and services.

Its Barnes & Noble College business operates physical and online campus bookstores, offering new and used textbooks, textbook rentals, digital course materials, general merchandise, school apparel, supplies, technology products and convenience items.