Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Stock Price

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the technology retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Best Buy from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price 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 given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

Best Buy Stock Performance

NYSE BBY opened at $85.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $86.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.17. Best Buy has a fifty-two week low of $69.29 and a fifty-two week high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The technology retailer reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.04). The business 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 business’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Best Buy will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. Best Buy’s payout ratio is 64.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 92,070 shares in the company, valued at $8,052,442.20. This trade represents a 42.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBY. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Best Buy by 10.5% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,745 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $3,279,000 after buying an additional 3,025 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Best Buy by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 90,341 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $9,332,000 after purchasing an additional 19,405 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Best Buy by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 154,564 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $15,806,000 after purchasing an additional 18,171 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Best Buy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,384,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,164,953 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $636,840,000 after acquiring an additional 241,988 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.