Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Purchases New Position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 17,065 shares of the technology retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,336,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 103,459 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $8,100,000 after acquiring an additional 8,042 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $317,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $831,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Best Buy by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 94,282 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $6,550,000 after purchasing an additional 24,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in Best Buy by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 770,020 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $60,277,000 after purchasing an additional 85,286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Best Buy news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $324,991.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,912 shares in the company, valued at $2,119,601.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total value of $290,153.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,118 shares in the company, valued at $1,823,186.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $324,991.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,119,601.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,023 shares of company stock worth $4,253,900. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBY has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.60.

Best Buy Trading Down 0.3 %

BBY opened at $75.04 on Friday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.30 and a twelve month high of $86.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.02 and a 200-day moving average of $74.12. The stock has a market cap of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.21. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 48.45%. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. Best Buy’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is 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.