California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 371,381 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 24,038 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $31,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its position in Best Buy by 365.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 930 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 101.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,114,928 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $95,661,000 after purchasing an additional 561,413 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Best Buy in the 4th quarter worth $6,504,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Best Buy by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 9,163 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Best Buy during the fourth quarter valued at about $507,000. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In related news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 6,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $497,434.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,348,810.85. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 4,893 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $355,476.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,348,048. This trade represents a 13.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Best Buy from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Best Buy from $106.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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 dropped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $102.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.50.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of BBY stock opened at $75.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.98 and its 200 day moving average is $87.76. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.29 and a twelve month 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 the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.18. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. The company had revenue of $13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.72 EPS. Research analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02%. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.