American Century Companies Inc. Buys 193,830 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 56.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 535,958 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 193,830 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.25% of Best Buy worth $45,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Best Buy by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,538 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in Best Buy by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 861 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in Best Buy by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,002 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,904 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $2,566,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Best Buy by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,861 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Best Buy from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Best Buy from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group set a $105.00 price objective on Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 4,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $355,476.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,348,048. This trade represents a 13.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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. Insiders have sold 78,355 shares of company stock worth $5,767,213 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Price Performance

NYSE:BBY opened at $74.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.48. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.29 and a 1-year high of $103.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.99%.

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.