Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Best Buy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wedbush upped their target price on Best Buy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Best Buy from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.50.

Best Buy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:BBY opened at $77.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.81. Best Buy has a twelve month low of $55.10 and a twelve month high of $84.99. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.30.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The technology retailer reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.05. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 48.70%. The firm had revenue of $8.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Best Buy will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 224,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total transaction of $17,549,460.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 10,430,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,656,101.60. This represents a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 1,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $131,659.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,294. This represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,002,134 shares of company stock valued at $77,283,527 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Best Buy by 100.6% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 70,280 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $4,704,000 after purchasing an additional 35,239 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in Best Buy in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,741,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 225,000 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $15,059,000 after purchasing an additional 67,600 shares during the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth about $6,295,000. Finally, Trust Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the third quarter worth about $1,939,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Company 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.