IFM Investors Pty Ltd Purchases 869 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 44,279 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $3,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Best Buy by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 103,459 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $8,100,000 after acquiring an additional 8,042 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter valued at $317,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in Best Buy in the third quarter worth about $831,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 35.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 94,282 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $6,550,000 after buying an additional 24,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 770,020 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $60,277,000 after acquiring an additional 85,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of BBY stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.05. The company had a trading volume of 2,125,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,398,775. The company has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.12. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.30 and a 52-week high of $86.11. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.58 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 48.45% and a net margin of 2.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 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 $204,909.00. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $27,728.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 431,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,670,060.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 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 $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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,023 shares of company stock valued at $4,253,900 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush increased 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Best Buy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.60.

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.