Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 830,975 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after buying an additional 77,504 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $71,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth about $514,483,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $178,015,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Best Buy by 101.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,114,928 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $95,661,000 after purchasing an additional 561,413 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 563.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 592,460 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $50,643,000 after buying an additional 503,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 817.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 537,886 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $55,564,000 after buying an additional 479,256 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a 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 note on Thursday, January 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Best Buy from $102.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Corie S. Barry acquired 13,500 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $72.92 per share, for a total transaction of $984,420.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 378,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,620,637.60. This trade represents a 3.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $226,844.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,370,051.22. The trade was a 14.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,355 shares of company stock worth $5,767,213. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Trading Down 17.8 %

Shares of Best Buy stock opened at $62.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.86 and a 52-week high of $103.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current 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 is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.99%.

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.