Raymond James & Associates Grows Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,886,962 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 277,158 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Best Buy were worth $236,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BBY. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at $165,164,000. HS Management Partners LLC purchased a new position in Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $103,854,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Best Buy by 120.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,336,071 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $92,819,000 after acquiring an additional 729,605 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,586,442 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $179,680,000 after acquiring an additional 687,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Best Buy by 11,586.7% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 686,128 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $53,710,000 after acquiring an additional 680,257 shares during the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total value of $290,153.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,118 shares in the company, valued at $1,823,186.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $27,728.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 431,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,670,060.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total value of $290,153.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,118 shares in the company, valued at $1,823,186.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,023 shares of company stock worth $4,253,900 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBY has been the topic of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Best Buy from $68.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Best Buy from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet upgraded Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Best Buy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.60.

Best Buy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BBY traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.05. 2,125,289 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,398,775. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $16.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.30 and a 12-month high of $86.11.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.58 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 48.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.08%.

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.