Raymond James & Associates Purchases 277,158 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,886,962 shares of the technology retailer's stock after buying an additional 277,158 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 1.34% of Best Buy worth $236,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Best Buy by 69.5% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 322 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Best Buy by 549.1% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on BBY shares. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Best Buy from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $84.60.

Best Buy Stock Down 0.3 %

BBY stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,125,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,398,775. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.30 and a twelve month high of $86.11. The company's fifty day moving average price is $78.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.21. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 48.45%. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. The company's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Best Buy's payout ratio is currently 66.08%.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

In other news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $324,991.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,119,601.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $27,728.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 431,231 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,670,060.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $324,991.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,912 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,119,601.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,023 shares of company stock worth $4,253,900 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Best Buy Company Profile

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.