Matthew M. Bilunas Sells 8,258 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Stock

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 8,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $675,504.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,418,769.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Best Buy Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of BBY stock opened at $81.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.85. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.49. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.30 and a twelve month high of $86.11.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.58 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 48.45% and a net margin of 2.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush increased their price target on Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Best Buy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.27.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BBY. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 39,097 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $3,554,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 105,369 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $9,578,000 after purchasing an additional 24,977 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Best Buy in the 1st quarter valued at $499,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Best Buy by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,144 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Domestic 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, home theater, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products.