Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,560,000 shares, a decrease of 6.5% from the December 15th total of 13,430,000 shares. Approximately 6.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.46, for a total transaction of $6,049,258.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,052,442.20. This represents a 42.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Best Buy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,281 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $855,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Best Buy by 1.2% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,454 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $977,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Best Buy by 4.6% in the third quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its position in Best Buy by 3.7% in the third quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Best Buy by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of BBY traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,974,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,243,368. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.15. Best Buy has a fifty-two week low of $69.29 and a fifty-two week high of $103.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.43.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The technology retailer reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.04). Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. The business had revenue of $9.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Best Buy will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Best Buy from $109.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Melius Research began coverage on Best Buy in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Best Buy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.72.

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.