Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) CFO Sells $3,784,200.00 in Stock

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 51,000 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total transaction of $3,784,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,856 shares in the company, valued at $4,144,515.20. This trade represents a 47.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of BBY traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.78. 2,397,876 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,091,733. 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 cap of $15.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.29 and a 52-week high of $103.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.68.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BBY. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Best Buy from $106.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Best Buy from $95.00 to $81.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $514,483,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Best Buy during the fourth quarter valued at $178,015,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Best Buy by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,942,832 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $252,495,000 after acquiring an additional 701,287 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,692,118 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $316,784,000 after acquiring an additional 629,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 101.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,114,928 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $95,661,000 after purchasing an additional 561,413 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.