Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,930 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 375 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $1,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the 4th quarter worth $3,293,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Best Buy by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 26,400 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $2,265,000 after acquiring an additional 8,640 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in Best Buy by 424.0% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 26,200 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 21,200 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at about $453,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 401,098 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $34,414,000 after purchasing an additional 84,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BBY shares. UBS Group set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Best Buy from $106.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.50.

Insider Activity

In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $226,844.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,370,051.22. The trade was a 14.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Corie S. Barry acquired 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.92 per share, for a total transaction of $984,420.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 378,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,620,637.60. This trade represents a 3.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BBY stock opened at $73.63 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.29 and a fifty-two 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.69 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.72 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.99%.

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.