Insider Selling: Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) CFO Sells 9,482 Shares of Stock

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 9,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total value of $688,867.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,856 shares in the company, valued at $7,763,088.40. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Best Buy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BBY opened at $74.89 on Friday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.29 and a 52-week high of $103.71. The stock has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $82.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.72 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Best Buy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Best Buy by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 320,816 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $33,140,000 after acquiring an additional 12,694 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Best Buy by 31.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 165,627 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $17,109,000 after purchasing an additional 40,076 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Best Buy by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,463 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Best Buy by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 24,720 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $2,554,000 after buying an additional 3,511 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 152,985 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $15,803,000 after buying an additional 7,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BBY. UBS Group set a $105.00 price objective on Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Best Buy from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Best Buy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.50.

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.