Simmons Bank Takes $222,000 Position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Simmons Bank bought a new position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,831 shares of the technology retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HS Management Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at about $103,854,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Best Buy by 120.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,336,071 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $92,819,000 after buying an additional 729,605 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Best Buy by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,586,442 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $179,680,000 after acquiring an additional 687,556 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 426.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 740,608 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $51,450,000 after acquiring an additional 600,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Best Buy by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,228,980 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $97,339,000 after acquiring an additional 518,920 shares during the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Best Buy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BBY traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.26. 1,083,752 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,903,635. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.34. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.30 and a 12-month high of $86.11.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BBY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $89.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Best Buy from $68.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet raised Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Best Buy from $76.00 to $67.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Best Buy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 22,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,823,186.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Best Buy news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $324,991.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 25,912 shares in the company, valued at $2,119,601.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total transaction of $290,153.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,823,186.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,023 shares of company stock valued at $4,253,900. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy 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.