Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $75.73, but opened at $66.30. Best Buy shares last traded at $63.79, with a volume of 1,537,730 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Best Buy from $102.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Best Buy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.22.

Best Buy Stock Performance

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 capitalization of $13.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.76.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $13.95 billion during 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 business posted $2.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.90%. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s payout ratio is presently 88.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 51,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $3,784,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,144,515.20. This trade represents a 47.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 4,893 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $355,476.45. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 971.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Best Buy by 186.9% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 373 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 18,700.0% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 376 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.