J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 27,836 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its ownership in Best Buy Co., Inc. by 62.3%, selling 27,836 shares and retaining 16,842 shares worth approximately $1.24 million.
• The quarterly earnings report revealed earnings per share of $1.15, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.09, although revenue declined by 0.9% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.95 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.9% based on a payout ratio of approximately 92.91%.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG decreased its stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 62.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,842 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 27,836 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Best Buy were worth $1,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Best Buy by 27.3% during the first quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 33,600 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 7,200 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Best Buy by 122.0% during the first quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 7,708 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 4,236 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Best Buy by 101.0% in the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 74,185 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $5,461,000 after purchasing an additional 37,276 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in Best Buy by 25.6% during the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 32,900 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $2,422,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Best Buy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 248,071 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $18,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Best Buy from $89.00 to $74.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.72.

Best Buy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE BBY traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $67.56. 2,127,060 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,642,438. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.01. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.99 and a twelve month high of $103.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.77 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 46.40% and a net margin of 2.13%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 19th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Best Buy's payout ratio is currently 92.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 729,201 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.95, for a total transaction of $53,195,212.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Best Buy 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.