Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Acquires 435 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,946 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BBY. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,164,953 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $636,840,000 after buying an additional 241,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Best Buy by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,852,980 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $499,954,000 after purchasing an additional 120,185 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Best Buy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,440,215 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $355,374,000 after buying an additional 62,452 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Best Buy by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,388,151 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $143,396,000 after buying an additional 44,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Best Buy by 5.6% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,160,614 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $119,892,000 after buying an additional 61,119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of Best Buy stock opened at $89.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $85.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.04. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a one year low of $69.29 and a one year high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The technology retailer reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.04). Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. The company had revenue of $9.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on BBY shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Best Buy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Best Buy from $123.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In related news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.46, for a total transaction of $6,049,258.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,070 shares in the company, valued at $8,052,442.20. This represents a 42.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.