Oak Thistle LLC Takes Position in Best Buy Co., Inc. $BBY

Key Points

• Oak Thistle LLC opened a new stake in Best Buy, buying 15,983 shares in Q4 valued at about $1.07 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 80.96% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed with an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.95 after several firms trimmed targets (JPMorgan, Jefferies, Truist) while Guggenheim maintained a buy with a $90 target.
• Best Buy raised its quarterly dividend to $0.96 (annualized $3.84) for a ~5.9% yield

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,983 shares of the technology retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,070,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BBY. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 3.1% during the third quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,109 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 3.9% during the third quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,633 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 69.3% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 337 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 12.0% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,298 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 2.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,220 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BBY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Best Buy from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $94.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Best Buy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 8,049 shares of the company'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 $515,296.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 102,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,572,869.38. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 5,339 shares of the company'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 $341,802.78. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,823,153.96. This represents a 10.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 77,247 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,353 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Best Buy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:BBY opened at $64.57 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.35. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.25 and a 12-month high of $84.99. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $13.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.96 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 49.17%. Best Buy's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is an increase from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 24th. Best Buy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.