Korea Investment CORP Acquires 48,090 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 45.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 153,199 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after buying an additional 48,090 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $13,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BBY. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,538 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in Best Buy by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 861 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,002 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,904 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $2,566,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,861 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 154 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, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total value of $214,390.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,552,603.15. This represents a 12.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 9,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total value of $688,867.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,763,088.40. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,355 shares of company stock worth $5,767,213 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group set a $105.00 price objective on Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Loop Capital reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.50.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of BBY stock opened at $72.28 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $82.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.18. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.29 and a fifty-two week high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.18. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. The business had revenue of $13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.99%.

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.