Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 708 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Wambolt & Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 20.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,774 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 708 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $228,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Best Buy during the second quarter worth about $122,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Best Buy by 8.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 274,514 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $23,139,000 after buying an additional 21,299 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Best Buy by 10.0% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,209 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,788,000 after buying an additional 1,930 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden increased its holdings in Best Buy by 356.5% during the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 331,900 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $27,976,000 after buying an additional 259,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Best Buy by 4.8% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 80,427 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $6,779,000 after buying an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Best Buy stock opened at $97.75 on Friday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.30 and a 1 year high of $103.71. The firm has a market cap of $21.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.62.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.18. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 47.19%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Best Buy’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Best Buy’s payout ratio is 65.85%.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

In other news, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $290,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,210,276.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $290,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,210,276.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 691,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total transaction of $61,154,874.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 14,911,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,319,073,501.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,383,370 shares of company stock worth $122,233,276. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BBY shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Best Buy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.56.

Best Buy 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.