Short Interest in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Rises By 8.1%

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,910,000 shares, an increase of 8.1% from the March 31st total of 14,720,000 shares. Approximately 8.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Insider Activity

In other Best Buy news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 28,042 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $2,293,835.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 429,159 shares in the company, valued at $35,105,206.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Best Buy news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 28,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $2,293,835.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 429,159 shares in the company, valued at $35,105,206.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 25,912 shares in the company, valued at $2,119,601.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,023 shares of company stock worth $4,253,900. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Best Buy by 549.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 69.5% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 322 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Best Buy Trading Down 2.2 %

BBY opened at $72.02 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Best Buy has a fifty-two week low of $62.30 and a fifty-two week high of $86.11. The company has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.21. Best Buy had a return on equity of 48.45% and a net margin of 2.86%. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Best Buy will post 6.03 earnings per share 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.22%. Best Buy’s payout ratio is currently 66.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BBY shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their target price on Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Best Buy from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.60.

About Best Buy

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.