Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 76,219 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 67.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,909 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 76,219 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Best Buy were worth $3,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 971.9% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 343 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Best Buy by 186.9% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 373 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in Best Buy by 18,700.0% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 376 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Best Buy Price Performance

NYSE BBY traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.25. The company had a trading volume of 6,437,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,414,174. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.09. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.99 and a 52 week high of $103.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.77 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. Best Buy's revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Best Buy's payout ratio is 88.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BBY. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Best Buy from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Best Buy from $92.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price target (down previously from $93.00) on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $226,844.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,370,051.22. This trade represents a 14.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 4,893 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $355,476.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,348,048. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,355 shares of company stock worth $5,767,213 in the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.