Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,830 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 4,255 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $8,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BBY. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Best Buy by 971.9% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 343 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 632.1% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Best Buy by 1,200.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 416 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on Best Buy from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Best Buy from $95.00 to $81.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Best Buy from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $102.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Best Buy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.50.

Best Buy Stock Performance

BBY stock opened at $73.86 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.29 and a 1 year high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.18. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. The firm had revenue of $13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.72 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Best Buy’s payout ratio is presently 88.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Corie S. Barry acquired 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.92 per share, for a total transaction of $984,420.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 378,780 shares in the company, valued at $27,620,637.60. This trade represents a 3.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $226,844.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,370,051.22. This represents a 14.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Best Buy Company Profile

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.