Best Buy Co., Inc. $BBY Stock Holdings Increased by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its Best Buy stake by 250.6% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 72,398 shares and bringing its total to 101,292 shares worth about $6.78 million.
• Best Buy reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $2.61, though revenue came in slightly below estimates at $13.81 billion and declined 1% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.96 per share, equal to a 5.9% annualized yield.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including CFO Matthew M. Bilunas and EVP Jason J. Bonfig, while Wall Street currently rates the stock a “Hold” on average with a consensus price target of $70.25.

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 250.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,292 shares of the technology retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 72,398 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Best Buy were worth $6,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Best Buy by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,436 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $1,210,000 after buying an additional 4,701 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Best Buy by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,560 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $1,984,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its stake in shares of Best Buy by 127.7% in the 2nd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 12,997 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 7,288 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Best Buy by 155.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 160,568 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $10,779,000 after buying an additional 97,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Best Buy by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 313,584 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $21,051,000 after buying an additional 76,102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 11,356 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total value of $727,011.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 76,884 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,113.68. The trade was a 12.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 6,336 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total value of $405,630.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 79,137 shares in the company, valued at $5,066,350.74. The trade was a 7.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,247 shares of company stock worth $4,945,353. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BBY opened at $64.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $61.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.83. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.10 and a 52-week high of $84.99.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The technology retailer reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $13.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.96 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 49.17% and a net margin of 2.56%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 24th were issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 24th. This is a positive change from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Best Buy's payout ratio is presently 76.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BBY. Evercore set a $65.00 price objective on Best Buy in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Best Buy from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Best Buy from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Best Buy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.25.

Best Buy Company Profile

Best Buy Co, Inc is a leading North American consumer electronics retailer that sells a broad range of products including computers, mobile phones, televisions and home theater systems, major appliances, smart-home devices, gaming hardware and software, wearables and related accessories. The company operates through a mix of large-format stores, smaller specialty locations and an e-commerce platform, offering national and private-brand merchandise from major consumer-technology manufacturers as well as third-party sellers.

Beyond product retailing, Best Buy provides a suite of services aimed at installation, repair and ongoing technical support.

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