Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE:BNED) Short Interest Down 7.1% in March

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE:BNED) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,040,000 shares, a decline of 7.1% from the February 29th total of 1,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $1.25 price objective (down from $3.00) on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 28th.

Barnes & Noble Education Price Performance

Barnes & Noble Education stock opened at $0.64 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $0.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.02. The firm has a market cap of $34.27 million, a PE ratio of -0.41 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Barnes & Noble Education has a 52-week low of $0.52 and a 52-week high of $2.26.

Institutional Trading of Barnes & Noble Education

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP raised its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 31.8% in the second quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 23,120 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 5,577 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 15,628 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 364,734 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 6,535 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 12.4% during the second quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 65,866 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 7,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the first quarter valued at $27,000. 38.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barnes & Noble Education Company Profile

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc operates bookstores for college and university campuses, and K-12 institutions in the United States. It operates through Retail and Wholesale segments. The company sells and rents new and used print textbooks, digital textbooks, and publisher hosted digital courseware through physical and virtual bookstores, as well as directly to students through Textbooks.com.