Insider Selling: Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Chairman Sells 88,542 Shares of Stock

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 88,542 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $7,813,831.50. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,602,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,200,451,777.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Best Buy Stock Down 0.4 %

BBY stock traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $87.35. 1,786,675 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,163,574. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.01. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.30 and a 1-year high of $93.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.88. The company has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.48.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The technology retailer reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $8.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.96 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 47.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 20th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 20th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Best Buy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BBY. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Best Buy by 69.5% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 322 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Best Buy in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BBY shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group raised shares of Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Monday, June 17th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Best Buy from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $67.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.87.

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.