Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Reduces Stock Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV reduced its stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,565 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 703 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Best Buy by 69.5% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 322 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Best Buy by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BBY. UBS Group upgraded shares of Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.87.

Best Buy Price Performance

Best Buy stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $82.61. 601,247 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,158,838. The company has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.83. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.30 and a 1 year high of $93.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The technology retailer reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $8.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.96 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 47.56% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.11 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 20th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 20th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.21, for a total transaction of $80,210,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 8,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,858.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $27,728.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 431,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,670,060.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.21, for a total value of $80,210,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 8,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,858.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,004,149 shares of company stock worth $166,397,807 in the last 90 days. 0.59% of the stock is owned by company 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.