Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) EVP Sells $416,852.80 in Stock

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 5,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $416,852.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 76,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,235,286.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of BBY stock opened at $81.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.85. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.30 and a 52 week high of $86.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.58 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 48.45%. The business’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 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Best Buy by 549.1% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 81.9% in the third quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 411 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on BBY. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.27.

Best Buy Company Profile

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.