Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 9,051 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 551,846 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 9,051 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $47,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 1,200.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 416 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Best Buy in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 632.1% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 550 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Best Buy news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.46, for a total transaction of $6,049,258.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,052,442.20. This trade represents a 42.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BBY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Best Buy from $107.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Best Buy from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

Best Buy Stock Performance

NYSE BBY opened at $88.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.43. 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 Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.29 and a twelve month high of $103.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.05.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The technology retailer reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.04). Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. The company had revenue of $9.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.27%.

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.