Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 33,071 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 64.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,382 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 33,071 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Best Buy were worth $1,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Best Buy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,982,608 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $1,971,908,000 after purchasing an additional 191,161 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,560,368 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $562,880,000 after buying an additional 395,415 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter valued at $514,483,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Best Buy by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,092,820 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $436,210,000 after buying an additional 239,840 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Best Buy by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,824,425 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $328,136,000 after acquiring an additional 459,353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Best Buy Stock Performance

BBY traded down $0.76 on Friday, hitting $70.01. The company had a trading volume of 3,591,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,370,265. The stock has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company's fifty day moving average price is $67.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.56. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.99 and a 1-year high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.69 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is a positive change from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. Best Buy's payout ratio is currently 88.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BBY. Bank of America lowered their target price on Best Buy from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Best Buy from $102.00 to $92.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Best Buy news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 51,000 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $3,784,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,144,515.20. The trade was a 47.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 4,893 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total value of $355,476.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,320 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,348,048. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

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.