HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Purchases 1,003 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,092 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its stake in Best Buy by 228.7% during the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 22,625 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 15,741 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth about $3,293,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,982,608 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,971,908,000 after acquiring an additional 191,161 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its position in Best Buy by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 26,400 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after acquiring an additional 8,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its position in Best Buy by 424.0% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 26,200 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 21,200 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Best Buy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.50.

Best Buy Price Performance

NYSE BBY opened at $74.36 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.84. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.29 and a 52 week high of $103.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $15.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.69 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.72 EPS. Research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Best Buy’s payout ratio is presently 88.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry bought 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $72.92 per share, with a total value of $984,420.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 378,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,620,637.60. The trade was a 3.70 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $214,390.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,552,603.15. The trade was a 12.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,355 shares of company stock worth $5,767,213 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

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.