Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Lowers Stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. $BBY

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management cut its Best Buy stake by 44.5% in the first quarter, selling more than 105,000 shares and leaving the fund with about 132,270 shares worth roughly $8.5 million.
• Best Buy reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.28 and revenue of $8.94 billion, both topping Wall Street estimates and showing 1.9% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.96 per share, equivalent to a 4.9% annualized yield, while analysts currently maintain an overall “Hold” rating with an average target price of $79.50.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 44.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 132,270 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 105,854 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.06% of Best Buy worth $8,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. raised its holdings in Best Buy by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 6,960 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the first quarter worth $347,000. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the first quarter worth $37,000. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in shares of Best Buy by 0.7% in the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 70,472 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $4,524,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the first quarter valued at $636,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Best Buy Price Performance

BBY stock opened at $77.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $68.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.81. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.10 and a 12-month high of $84.99.

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

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 18th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. Best Buy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 1,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $131,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,294. The trade was a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 500,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.12, for a total transaction of $38,086,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 10,930,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $832,036,206.32. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,002,134 shares of company stock worth $77,283,527. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Best Buy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Best Buy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of Best Buy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.50.

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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