American Century Companies Inc. Buys 193,830 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 56.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 535,958 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 193,830 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $45,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Best Buy by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,560,368 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $562,880,000 after purchasing an additional 395,415 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth $514,483,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Best Buy by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,852,980 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $499,954,000 after buying an additional 120,185 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Best Buy by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,824,425 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $328,136,000 after acquiring an additional 459,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Best Buy by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,606,242 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $137,816,000 after acquiring an additional 236,524 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Best Buy from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Best Buy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.50.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of BBY stock opened at $74.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a one year low of $69.29 and a one year high of $103.71.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.99%.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 4,893 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $355,476.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,348,048. This represents a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,951 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $214,390.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,552,603.15. This represents a 12.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213. Corporate 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.