Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Short Interest Update

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,560,000 shares, a decrease of 6.5% from the December 15th total of 13,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 6.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Best Buy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Best Buy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $109.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.72.

Best Buy Stock Performance

BBY traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $81.91. 2,974,891 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,243,368. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 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 has a 52-week low of $69.29 and a 52-week high of $103.71.

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

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Best Buy’s payout ratio is 64.27%.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

In related news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 92,070 shares in the company, valued at $8,052,442.20. This represents a 42.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Best Buy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Best Buy by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,164,953 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $636,840,000 after buying an additional 241,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Best Buy by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,852,980 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $499,954,000 after acquiring an additional 120,185 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Best Buy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,440,215 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $355,374,000 after purchasing an additional 62,452 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Best Buy by 3.3% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,388,151 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $143,396,000 after purchasing an additional 44,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 55.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,379,195 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $116,252,000 after purchasing an additional 491,781 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.