Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Short Interest Update

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,720,000 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the March 15th total of 15,740,000 shares. Currently, 7.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BBY. TheStreet raised Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Telsey Advisory Group raised Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.60.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBY opened at $76.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.49. Best Buy has a 1 year low of $62.30 and a 1 year high of $86.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.83.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $204,909.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,097,188.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 25,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,119,601.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $204,909.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,097,188.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,394 shares of company stock valued at $4,206,247 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Best Buy by 549.1% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in shares of Best Buy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Best Buy by 69.5% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 322 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in Best Buy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

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.