Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,457 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 48,896 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.08% of Best Buy worth $13,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Best Buy by 549.1% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 81.9% during the third quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 411 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,670,060.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 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 $204,909.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,097,188.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $27,728.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,670,060.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,023 shares of company stock valued at $4,253,900 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Best Buy from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. 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 report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $101.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Best Buy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.60.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BBY opened at $74.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $77.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.00. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.30 and a 52-week high of $86.11.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.21. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 48.45%. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. Best Buy’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Best Buy’s payout ratio is presently 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.