Insider Selling: Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) CAO Sells $226,844.78 in Stock

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $226,844.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,370,051.22. This represents a 14.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Best Buy Price Performance

NYSE:BBY opened at $73.63 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.17. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G 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.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $13.69 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.16%. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Best Buy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new position in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth about $3,293,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Best Buy by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 26,400 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 8,640 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in Best Buy by 424.0% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 26,200 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $453,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 401,098 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $34,414,000 after acquiring an additional 84,505 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BBY. Loop Capital restated a “negative” rating on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Best Buy from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Best Buy from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.50.

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.