KBC Group NV Raises Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. $BBY

Key Points

• KBC Group NV increased its Best Buy stake by 50.5% in the first quarter, buying 531,998 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,584,803 shares worth about $101.7 million.
• Best Buy recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.28 EPS on revenue of $8.94 billion, with revenue up 1.9% year over year. The company also reaffirmed FY 2027 guidance of 6.3 to 6.6 EPS.
• Wall Street remains mostly cautious on BBY, with an average analyst rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $79.50, despite the stock trading near its 52-week high at $85.75.

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 50.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,584,803 shares of the technology retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 531,998 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.75% of Best Buy worth $101,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,255,320 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $1,623,409,000 after purchasing an additional 307,905 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Best Buy by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,158,839 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $613,001,000 after buying an additional 2,160,968 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Best Buy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,452,642 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $498,805,000 after buying an additional 160,713 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Best Buy by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,732,080 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $316,718,000 after buying an additional 271,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Best Buy by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,778,294 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $252,881,000 after buying an additional 605,911 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BBY shares. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Best Buy from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Best Buy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Best Buy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.50.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Best Buy stock opened at $85.75 on Monday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.10 and a 12-month high of $87.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $18.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $72.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.57.

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

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 18th. Best Buy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 1,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $131,659.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,294. This represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 224,705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total transaction of $17,549,460.50. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 10,430,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at $814,656,101.60. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,002,134 shares of company stock valued at $77,283,527. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Best Buy 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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