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

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Loop Capital downgraded Best Buy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Best Buy from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Best Buy from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.50.

Best Buy Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:BBY opened at $85.75 on Monday. Best Buy has a fifty-two week low of $55.10 and a fifty-two week high of $87.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $72.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.30.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The technology retailer reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.05. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 48.70%. The company had revenue of $8.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Best Buy will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 1,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $131,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,294. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 500,350 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $832,036,206.32. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,002,134 shares of company stock valued at $77,283,527. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Best Buy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,255,320 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $1,623,409,000 after purchasing an additional 307,905 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,158,839 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $613,001,000 after buying an additional 2,160,968 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,452,642 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $498,805,000 after buying an additional 160,713 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,732,080 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $316,718,000 after buying an additional 271,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,778,294 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $252,881,000 after buying an additional 605,911 shares in the last quarter. 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.