Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Acquires New Position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 17,065 shares of the technology retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,336,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Best Buy by 549.1% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Best Buy by 81.9% in the third quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 411 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in Best Buy by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on BBY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Best Buy from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Best Buy from $68.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Best Buy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Best Buy from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 5,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $416,852.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 76,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,235,286.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $32,670,060.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 5,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $416,852.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 76,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,235,286.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,023 shares of company stock valued at $4,253,900. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BBY opened at $75.04 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap 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 Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.30 and a 1 year high of $86.11.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.