Van ECK Associates Corp Has $7.61 Million Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,173 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,891 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $7,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BBY. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 4.9% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 109,913 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $7,636,000 after purchasing an additional 5,101 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 14.9% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 22,385 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,902 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 30,879 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $2,145,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 5,177.8% during the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 282,064 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $19,595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the period. 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 several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Best Buy from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.60.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of Best Buy stock opened at $74.48 on Friday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.30 and a fifty-two week high of $86.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.20.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.58 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 48.45%. Best Buy’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Best Buy’s payout ratio is 66.08%.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

In other news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 5,096 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $416,852.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 76,226 shares in the company, valued at $6,235,286.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 5,096 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $416,852.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 76,226 shares in the company, valued at $6,235,286.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $27,728.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 431,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,670,060.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,023 shares of company stock worth $4,253,900. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Company 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.