Best Buy Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BBY)

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 46,788 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 249% compared to the average volume of 13,422 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.46, for a total transaction of $6,049,258.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 92,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,052,442.20. This represents a 42.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Best Buy by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,164,953 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $636,840,000 after buying an additional 241,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,852,980 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $499,954,000 after purchasing an additional 120,185 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,440,215 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $355,374,000 after purchasing an additional 62,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 8.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,055,743 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $257,569,000 after purchasing an additional 235,478 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 55.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,863,291 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $241,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,824 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Best Buy from $107.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Best Buy from $109.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.06.

Best Buy Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE BBY opened at $87.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.44. Best Buy has a one year low of $69.29 and a one year high of $103.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $91.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.61.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The technology retailer reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $9.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.63 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Best Buy will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.27%.

About Best Buy

Best Buy Co, Inc engages in the retail of technology products in the United States, Canada, and international. Its stores provide computing and mobile phone products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness products, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products, as well as home theaters, which includes home theater accessories, soundbars, and televisions.