Truist Financial Corp Sells 9,738 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. $BBY

Truist Financial Corp lessened its stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,071 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 9,738 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $1,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Best Buy by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,436 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,701 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,560 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 127.7% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 12,997 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 7,288 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 155.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 160,568 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $10,779,000 after acquiring an additional 97,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 313,584 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $21,051,000 after acquiring an additional 76,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Stock Down 0.6%

BBY opened at $56.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.11. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.10 and a fifty-two week high of $84.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $62.23 and its 200 day moving average is $68.08. The stock has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The technology retailer reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.13. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 49.17%. The company had revenue of $13.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. Best Buy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 24th were paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBY has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Best Buy from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Best Buy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore set a $65.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC dropped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $96.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.80.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 5,339 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total value of $341,802.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 44,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,823,153.96. The trade was a 10.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 11,356 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $727,011.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 76,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,113.68. This represents a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 77,247 shares of company stock worth $4,945,353 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Profile

Best Buy Co, Inc is a leading North American consumer electronics retailer that sells a broad range of products including computers, mobile phones, televisions and home theater systems, major appliances, smart-home devices, gaming hardware and software, wearables and related accessories. The company operates through a mix of large-format stores, smaller specialty locations and an e-commerce platform, offering national and private-brand merchandise from major consumer-technology manufacturers as well as third-party sellers.

Beyond product retailing, Best Buy provides a suite of services aimed at installation, repair and ongoing technical support.