Empirical Asset Management LLC Makes New $558,000 Investment in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,403 shares of the technology retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in Best Buy in the second quarter worth approximately $121,325,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 4,337.6% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,099,495 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $92,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,718 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,863,291 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $241,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,824 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Best Buy during the first quarter valued at about $43,522,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Best Buy by 55.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,379,195 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $116,252,000 after purchasing an additional 491,781 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Price Performance

NYSE:BBY opened at $96.91 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $94.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.80. The firm has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 1.01. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a one year low of $62.30 and a one year high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.23 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 2.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.28 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 691,328 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total value of $61,154,874.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,911,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,319,073,501.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 691,328 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total transaction of $61,154,874.88. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,911,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,319,073,501.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 88,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $7,813,831.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,602,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,451,777.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,379,870 shares of company stock worth $121,942,706 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $114.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Best Buy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on Best Buy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Melius Research started coverage on Best Buy in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Best Buy from $95.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.41.

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.