Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Stock Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,691 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 1,220 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 549.1% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 81.9% in the third quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 411 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Best Buy by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 28,042 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Best Buy news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 28,042 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 transaction of $2,293,835.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 429,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,105,206.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $204,909.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,638 shares in the company, valued at $2,097,188.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,023 shares of company stock valued at $4,253,900. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BBY shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.00.

Best Buy Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE BBY opened at $73.06 on Wednesday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.30 and a 1-year high of $86.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.50. 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 (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. 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 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.