Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 103,459 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,042 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $8,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 32.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,885,308 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $773,724,000 after purchasing an additional 2,409,006 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth about $161,121,000. HS Management Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth about $103,854,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 1,079.7% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,330,700 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $104,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,900 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the first quarter worth about $99,081,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Best Buy news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 28,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $2,293,835.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 429,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,105,206.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $204,909.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,097,188.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 28,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $2,293,835.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 429,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,105,206.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,394 shares of company stock worth $4,206,247. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BBY. Barclays lifted their target price on Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Best Buy from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Telsey Advisory Group raised Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.60.

Best Buy Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of BBY opened at $76.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.00. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a one year low of $62.30 and a one year high of $86.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $77.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.77.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.21. Best Buy had a return on equity of 48.45% and a net margin of 2.86%. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Best Buy’s payout ratio is presently 66.08%.

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.