Mathew Watson Sells 3,182 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Stock

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $226,844.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,370,051.22. This trade represents a 14.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Best Buy Price Performance

BBY traded up $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 266,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,969,657. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.29 and a 12 month high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.18. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. The business had revenue of $13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BBY. Bank of America cut their target price on Best Buy from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim reduced 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 note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $106.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “negative” rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.50.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,982,608 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,971,908,000 after acquiring an additional 191,161 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Best Buy by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,560,368 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $562,880,000 after buying an additional 395,415 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $514,483,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,092,820 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $436,210,000 after buying an additional 239,840 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Best Buy by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,824,425 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $328,136,000 after acquiring an additional 459,353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

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.