Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 58.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,153 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 19,588 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Best Buy were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Best Buy by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the first quarter worth $923,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Best Buy by 35.8% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,940 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 1,828 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 15,733 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Best Buy by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $826,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 729,201 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.95, for a total value of $53,195,212.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 196,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,305,495. This represents a 78.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 51,000 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total transaction of $3,784,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,856 shares in the company, valued at $4,144,515.20. The trade was a 47.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Best Buy Stock Down 0.3%

BBY traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $67.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,187,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,316,686. The company has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.25. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.99 and a fifty-two week high of $103.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.87.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.77 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 46.40%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 19th will be given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.62%. Best Buy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BBY. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down from $93.00) on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $106.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Best Buy from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.11.

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.