Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 18,074 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. $BBY

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management cut its Best Buy stake by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 18,074 shares and leaving it with 142,342 shares valued at about $9.53 million.
• Best Buy insiders also sold stock, including CAO Mathew Watson and CFO Matthew M. Bilunas, with insiders selling a total of 77,247 shares last quarter.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Best Buy’s consensus rating is “Hold,” with nine Buy ratings, eleven Hold ratings, and two Sell ratings, and an average price target of $70.80.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,342 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 18,074 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned 0.07% of Best Buy worth $9,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. increased its holdings in Best Buy by 239.2% in the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 441 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Best Buy by 1,247.1% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 458 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $211,137.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 23,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,484,751.84. The trade was a 12.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 11,356 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $727,011.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 76,884 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,113.68. The trade was a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,247 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,353 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Best Buy from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson set a $78.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Best Buy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Best Buy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.80.

Best Buy Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE BBY opened at $61.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.10 and a 52 week high of $84.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The technology retailer reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $13.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.96 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 49.17% and a net margin of 2.56%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 24th. This is a boost from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Best Buy's payout ratio is presently 76.19%.

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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