Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Shares Sold by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC cut its stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 144,251 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 32,988 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $12,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BBY. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Best Buy by 971.9% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 343 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 186.9% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 373 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Best Buy by 632.1% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BBY. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Best Buy from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Best Buy from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Loop Capital reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry acquired 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $72.92 per share, with a total value of $984,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 378,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,620,637.60. This trade represents a 3.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 51,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $3,784,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,856 shares in the company, valued at $4,144,515.20. This trade represents a 47.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,355 shares of company stock worth $5,767,213 over the last 90 days. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Best Buy Stock Performance

NYSE:BBY opened at $60.28 on Monday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.34 and a 52 week high of $103.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.15. 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 company has a market cap of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.42.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.69 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. 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. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.30%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.99%.

Best Buy 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.