Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $3.17 Million Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 67.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,909 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 76,219 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Best Buy were worth $3,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,982,608 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $1,971,908,000 after acquiring an additional 191,161 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $562,880,000 after buying an additional 395,415 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $514,483,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $436,210,000 after buying an additional 239,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Best Buy by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,824,425 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $328,136,000 after buying an additional 459,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $226,844.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,370,051.22. The trade was a 14.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 9,482 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $688,867.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 106,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,763,088.40. This represents a 8.15% 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 worth $5,767,213 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price target (down previously from $93.00) on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Best Buy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.28.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of BBY stock traded up $0.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $73.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,137,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,349,657. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $67.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.35. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a one year low of $54.99 and a one year high of $103.71.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy's payout ratio is currently 88.99%.

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.