Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $106.98 Million Stock Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,246,904 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,290 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Best Buy were worth $106,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BBY. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth $514,483,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 563.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 592,460 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $50,643,000 after purchasing an additional 503,204 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 817.4% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 537,886 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $55,564,000 after purchasing an additional 479,256 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,824,425 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $328,136,000 after purchasing an additional 459,353 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,560,368 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $562,880,000 after purchasing an additional 395,415 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Best Buy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Best Buy from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on Best Buy from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.50.

Best Buy Stock Performance

BBY opened at $73.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $15.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.18 and a 200-day moving average of $89.77. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.29 and a 52-week high of $103.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.69 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.16%. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, CEO Corie S. Barry bought 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $72.92 per share, with a total value of $984,420.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 378,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,620,637.60. This represents a 3.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

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.