California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. $BBY

Key Points

• CalPERS sharply reduced its stake in Best Buy during the first quarter, cutting holdings by 68.3% and selling 779,246 shares. The pension fund ended with 361,200 shares valued at about $23.2 million.
• Best Buy insiders also sold stock, including Chairman Richard M. Schulze and CAO Mathew Watson. Company insiders sold about 1.0 million shares in the last quarter, while insiders currently own roughly 0.5% of the company.
• Best Buy beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.28 on revenue of $8.94 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates. The company also paid a $0.96 quarterly dividend, equal to a 4.4% annualized yield.

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 68.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 361,200 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 779,246 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.17% of Best Buy worth $23,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 239.2% during the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 441 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

In related news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 1,784 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $131,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 21,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,596,294. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 500,350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.12, for a total transaction of $38,086,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 10,930,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $832,036,206.32. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,002,134 shares of company stock worth $77,283,527. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BBY. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $65.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of Best Buy in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Best Buy from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Best Buy from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered Best Buy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Best Buy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.50.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Best Buy stock opened at $87.07 on Thursday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.10 and a twelve month high of $87.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50 day moving average is $74.45 and its 200 day moving average is $67.97.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The technology retailer reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.05. Best Buy had a return on equity of 48.70% and a net margin of 2.73%.The business had revenue of $8.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 18th were paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Best Buy's payout ratio is presently 71.11%.

About Best Buy

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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